this was ever actioned; certainly, notes Duggan, Adrian was wholly against the creation of a Byzantine kingdom on his own doorstep. This was in spite of Manuel deliberately not pressing his ancestor's historical claim to south Italy as a whole, and was interested primarily in the coastal areas. Initially, his campaign succeeded, and by 1155 he had occupied the area from Ancona to Taranto. Byzantine funding enabled Adrian to temporarily restore his vassal Robert, Count of Loritello, although on one occasion William was able to capture of gold from Manuel that had been destined for the Pope's war chest. There was some discussion of an alliance between Roman Pope and Eastern Emperor, and Adrian despatched Anselm of Havelberg east to arrange it, although in the event negotiations came to nothing. Magdalino argues that Adrian would not have been interested in an alliance "without the lure of Byzantine gold". Although the Byzantine Emperor had sent his army to support the Pope in Italy—and indeed, had subdued the troublesome region of the Balkans—Adrian, argues Sayers, "could not accept any power for the emperor that was not dependent on the pope". Ullmann argues that although Adrian was receptive to Manuel's ambition of uniting the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, he did not appreciate the manner in which the offer was made. He was particularly averse to Manuel's suggestion that the pope's sword was merely a spiritual force, and, suggests Ullmann, "received Manuel's overtures with that scepticism which they deserved". Adrian, though, while agreeing on the basic tenet of a single emperor and a single church, believed that it was not a case of the Western church joining that of the East, but the latter returning to the former with the "obedience due to a mother", as he put it in a letter to Manuel. In other words, all Christians, East or West, should be subjugated to the church of St Peter. Norman victory Strategically, King William's position was not looking good, and he offered Adrian large sums in financial compensation for the Pope to withdraw his forces. However, the majority of Adrian's curia were averse to holding negotiations with the Sicilians, and the King's offer was rejected somewhat haughtily. This turned out to be a bad mistake. William soon won decisive victories over both Greek and Apulian armies in mid-1156, culminating in the final defeat of the Eastern Empire at the Battle of