The emperor, his patriarch and his bishops had gone to Italy in 1437 on the understanding that, if and when the union of the churches was proclaimed, they would be accepted as full members of western Christendom. They would then qualify as the beneficiaries of a holy war against the Turks in which all their Christian brethren in the west would participate with wholehearted enthusiasm. Three months after the declaration of union, in October 1439, the pope outlined his proposals for the promised crusade. But the Christians of the west were far from wholehearted and it took months of painful diplomacy before a crusading army could be assembled. Once again the natural starting-point was Hungary. In 1440 the Kingdom of Hungary was united with that of Poland by the young Polish King Ladislas III. He was supported by the Hungarian general John Hunyadi, who had formerly been in the service of King Sigismund. Hunyadi was a brilliant soldier who had already fought valiantly against the Turks. Ladislas made him governor of Belgrade and Voivode of Transylvania. The Venetians had taken little part in the Council of Florence except as ferrymen and moneylenders. They were sceptical as well as anxious about its consequences. At the end of 1440 King Ladislas sent an envoy to enlist their sympathy for a crusade. They told him that they were at peace with the Turks and could not honourably join in war against them. The Emperor John VIII, who was well informed about events in eastern Europe, sent an ambassador to Venice and to Rome early in 1442.