William du Bellay urged the king to return the duke a favourable answer. A friend of independence and sound liberty, he was at that time the representative of the old French spirit, as Catherine de Medici was to become the representative of the new—that is to say, of the Romish influence under which France has unhappily suffered for nearly three centuries. It has been sometimes said that the cause of France is the cause of Rome; but the noblest aspirations of the French people and its most generous representatives condemn this error. Popery is the cause of the pope alone; it is not even the cause of Italy; and if the contrary opinion still exists in France, it is a remnant of the influence of the Medici. The transition from Marseilles to Avignon was, however, a little abrupt. To ally the eldest son of the Church with the protestants at the very moment he left the pope's arms, in a city which belonged to the holy see, and in the ancient palace of the pontiffs, seemed strange to the French, whose eyes were still fascinated by the pomp of Rome. This was noticed by Du Bellay, who, wishing to facilitate the transition, explained to the council 'that a diet was about to be held at Augsburg, where the reparation of a great injustice would be discussed; that an innocent person implored the king's assistance; that it was the practice of France to succour the oppressed everywhere; that precious advantages might result from it ... besides, there could be no doubt of success, and as the cause of Duke Christopher would be conducted in the diet according to the rights, usages, immunities, and privileges of the German nation, the emperor could not prevent justice being done.... Let us send an ambassador,' added Du Bellay, 'to support the claims of the dukes of Wurtemberg, and Austria must either restore these princes to their states, or arouse the hostility of all Germany against it.'[525] Francis was already gained. He hoped not only to take Wurtemberg from Austria, but also to get up a general war in Germany between the protestants and the empire, of which he could take advantage to seize upon the states which he claimed in Italy. When his detested rival had fallen beneath their combined blows, the religious question should be settled. The king, who had meditated all this in the intervals of his conferences with Clement VII., ordered Du Bellay to proceed to Augsburg forthwith, and charged him 'to do everything in his power, _with a sufficiently colourable pretext_, towards the re-establishment of the dukes of Wurtemberg.'[526] Du Bellay was satisfied. He wished for more than the king did; he desired to emancipate France from the papal supremacy, and with that object to draw Francis and protestantism closer together. That was difficult; but this Wurtemberg affair, which presented itself simply as a political question, would supply him with the means of overcoming every difficulty. This was where he would have to set the wedge in order to split the tree.