Only a few weeks after the conclusion of the treaty disputes again arose between the Church and Naples, when Aquila was subdued, the papal governor put to death, and the papal banner torn down. An outbreak of persecution against the barons increased the disagreement, and then the king broke his word to the Pope by denying that either he or his son had consented to pay the actual tribute. The management of benefices went on in the usual arbitrary manner. Innocent saw himself and his authority openly set at naught. In January 1487, the Prince of Salerno, who had quitted the kingdom before the net could be drawn tight round him, arrived at Rome, where he was received with all honours.[311] His report of the proceedings added fuel to the flame. Lodovico il Moro, who was always playing a double game, declared himself unreservedly in opposition to the king—with whom he was nevertheless at that moment treating for the marriage of his nephew Gian Galeazzo—and held out a threat of Venice taking part with the Pope, all of which did not dispose Innocent to regard Ferrante’s conduct calmly. The king soon discovered that his position was one of some danger. On May 1, he sent Trojano de’ Bottuni as envoy-extraordinary to Rome, Florence, and Milan.[312] He was to make the most of the undecided affair of Osimo and the services therein rendered to the Pope; to put prominently forward the danger from the Turks; to explain the king’s financial difficulties caused by the long-continued wars; and to appeal to Lorenzo and Lodovico for support in case of invasion. All this was mere show. If the Pope proved obstinate the ambassador was instructed to explain that the tribute was a formality rather than a contribution of money. The king did not hold himself bound to the Pope, and he had never ratified the consent given to the treaty of peace. Moreover, the conditions of this peace had not been fulfilled by his barons, and after the Pope had brought him into endless difficulties and dangers, he was in nowise minded to weaken his own forces still further in order to elevate his Holiness. As for the Duke of Bari’s threat about Venice, the ambassador might take the opinions of the Florentine Signoria and Lorenzo, and try if possible to obtain a written promise of help. The conduct of the barons had required renewed and severer measures; their discontent greatly astonished the king, as it would only bring trouble on the Pope and the Venetians, and perhaps occasion a more troublesome disaffection than the last. He relied entirely on Florence and Lorenzo; the whole world should not be able to change his opinion of the latter. Gioviano Pontano, the same man who had made the treaty with the Pope, drew up by the king’s orders instructions which repudiated all the obligations undertaken at the peace.