When Durant arrived in Vienne he may have thought that the chances of restoring true concord in the church were still good. The papacy had not yet completely recovered from the defeat it had suffered at Anagni, and Pope Clement V seemed weak. Philip IV, meanwhile, had kept the promise of the paréage, and the nobility of the Gévaudan was losing its independence. Assured of royal friendship, convinced of papal weakness, and ready to address a European audience, Durant set out to promote a lasting constitutional rearrangement of the church which he hoped would arrest the deterioration of the world, restore the bishops' honour, and realize the common good.

He was to be disappointed. If Anagni had demonstrated anything at all, it was that the pope had little hope of conducting any stable policy, much less an independent one, if he continued to be locked in battle with the most powerful monarchy in Europe. Friendly relations with the king of France had to be restored.