He retained his influence at court under William II, Empress Margaret, and William III. In politics, he supported the maintenance of alliances with Edward III of England and John III of Brabant as a counterweight to French pressure on Hainaut. He was active in the negotiations that led to the confederation of Holland and Hainaut with the duchy of Brabant and the county of Flanders, proclaimed at Vilvoorde in 1340. His lands in both Holland and Hainaut bordered on Brabant, and he had considerable properties and commercial interests within the duchy, giving him good personal reasons to avoid conflict. The alliances he had worked to bring about began to fall apart around 1350, when there was also civil war in Holland.