Conrad III and his German army set out from Ratisbon at Easter, well in front of Louis VII and the French, who left St Denis around Whitsun. Conrad entered Hungary in great state, because the Hungarians were his enemies. He brought a large fleet, which was abandoned when he left the Danube. Boris, the Hungarian pretender, had written to Louis VII at Etampes. He now attempted to secure the favour of Conrad III as he approached Hungary, giving him generous gifts. However Conrad extorted much larger sums from the Hungarian kingdom to ignore him, and did not help him