Jerome of Périgord one of the "honest and learned" ("honestos et litteratos") French monks recruited by Bernard of Sedirac, archbishop of Toledo, at the suggestion of Pope Urban II. According to Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Bernard went to Rome in 1096, where he tried to join the First Crusade only to be turned back by Urban. The pope, however, was travelling in southern France between the synod of Clermont (November 1095) and the synod of Nîmes (July 1096). Bernard was present at Nîmes, and he and Urban both attended the consecration of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse on 24 May 1096. Moreover,
Simon II of Clermont-Nesle king engaged the best available lawyers for his case. The conflict led in 1309 to the moving of the Papal court, under Pope Clement V (c. 1264–1314), to Avignon, outside the king's realm. Simon was a son of Simon II of Clermont, Seigneur of Ailly, Maulette and Nesle (c. 1216–1286) by Adele of Montfort (d. 1279), daughter of Amaury VI of Montfort. The father was a counsellor of King "Saint" Louis IX of France and was appointed regent ("lieutenant") while the king went away on the Seventh Crusade. Simon had three brothers and at least one sister, whose son was