oversaw the affair had acted improperly on their own initiative. Rumors, and eventually news, of the event did eventually reach Maximilian I, who complained that for the good of Christianity, only the Holy Roman Emperor should hold the imperial title. Charles eventually accepted the conditions of Andreas's abdications but did not divert from Naples. Though he considered declaring a crusade already while staying at Asti in northern Italy, he decided that he would only venture eastwards after he had conquered Naples, according to Charles himself mainly due to the increased number of attack plans possible if Naples was under his control. Charles VIII's Italian campaign caused some concern in Constantinople, and Bayezid began building up his defenses, constructing new ships and artillery and redirecting his military forces to defensive positions throughout Greece and the lands surrounding Constantinople. Charles's efforts were delayed as the king became embroiled in a conflict with the papacy and states throughout Italy. Still, on 27 January 1495, he secured possession of Cem Sultan, Bayezid's brother and a rival claimant to the Ottoman throne, formerly in papal captivity. On 22 February, Charles triumphantly entered Naples. Modern historians are divided on whether Charles was crowned as Emperor of Constantinople at Naples. According to Kenneth Setton, writing in 1978, Pope Alexander VI offered Charles to personally crown him as emperor, but Charles refused, preferring to conquer the territories of the former eastern empire before formally being crowned emperor. According to Liviu Pilat and Ovidiu Cristea, writing in 2017, Charles had himself crowned as both Emperor of Constantinople and King of Jerusalem at Naples. Three days after entering Naples, Charles faced a significant loss with the death of Cem Sultan. The crusading plans had often revolved around the part Cem was expected to play. Though his army was still intact, Cem's death, combined with a league being formed against Charles VIII, brought with it a gradual abandonment of the crusading plans. Hopes for a French invasion of the Ottoman Empire ended when Charles died in 1498. In the meantime, Charles took care to support "our great friend" () Andreas, and on 14 May 1495 awarded him an annual pension of 1200 ducats. Andreas once more claimed his imperial titles after 1498. Since the conditions of his abdication to Charles (notably gaining the Morea) had never been fulfilled, the abdication could be seen as having been rendered invalid. Church officials recognized