In the line of succession were two sons, Bajesid and Djem. Bajesid managed, by rapid marching, to reach Scutari before his brother, and was proclaimed Sultan. Djem, who had occupied Broussa, proposed a division of the empire, but Bajesid refused, and defeated Djem in a decisive battle, fought at Yeni-Chchir (1481). The defeated brother took refuge first in Egypt, with the Sultan of the Mamelouks, and afterwards appeared as a suppliant at Rhodes, where the Grand Master, fearing to keep so valuable a hostage, sent him to France, where he remained for several years in captivity. Djem finally ended his life as a victim of the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI, who is charged with having murdered him to secure the favor of Bajesid. So long as Djem lived, Bajesid was wary of stirring up the enmity of Occidental Christendom; he feared the effect on the stability of his throne by the return of a pretender, backed up by Christian armies. He even refused to answer the appeal for aid sent him by the last King of Granada, only venturing to show ineffective sympathy by sending a fleet to cruise off the Spanish coast. Charles VIII of France, encouraged by his successful expedition into Italy, planned a new general crusade against the Turk, and secured promises of coöperation from various Western powers. He kept in touch with the Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, and even looked forward to taking the imperial throne of Constantinople by purchasing title deeds to it from the Paleologi family. After Djem’s death, which was soon followed by that of Charles, the Sultan had a free hand. From 1492 to 1495 he warred with partial success against the Hungarians; then came the turn of Venice, whose Italian dominions again saw a Turkish army. In the Morea, also, the republic lost some of the few cities it still possessed. There Nauplia held out, but Modon, Navarino, and Coron passed into the possession of the Turks. Under Papal leadership, an anti-Ottoman league was formed, and the Christian fleet proved its prowess by destroying two Turkish flotillas and by ravaging the shores of Asia Minor.