In 1551, Cardinal Alessandro was sent by Pope Julius III to convince his brother Ottavio, the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, to surrender those territories, which, the Pope pointed out, were fiefs of the Church. Julius was being incredibly arrogant, insensitive and stupid. The Farnese had spent more than fifteen years developing their dukedom, and Cardinal Alessandro's father had been assassinated in the struggle with the Gonzaga and the Emperor Charles over it. The Farnese were being protected by the French Crown, which considered Parma its entrée into northern Italy, where it challenged the Emperor to the possession of the Duchy of Milan and the Lombard plain. Julius was toying with explosive material. Naturally Ottavio refused, and Alessandro supported him. The Farnese underwent a complete breach in relations with the Pope, and Alessandro was immediately unwelcome in Rome. Pope Julius sequestrated his diocese of Monreale, and confiscated all of the moveables in the Palazzo Farnese, said to have been worth 30,000 scudi. Duke Ottavio's duchy was sequestered. He withdrew in April, first to a visit with his sister Vittoria, the Duchess of Urbino, then to Florence, and finally to Avignon.