King Stephen wasted no time to solidify his relations with the Holy See. He sent a desperate plea to Pope Pius, asking him to send bishops, crusading weapons, and a coronation crown, as well as to be recommended to Matthias Corvinus. Stephen hoped that, with the Pope's urging, the Hungarian king would agree to provide him with military aid. On 17 November, the feast of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, who had been proclaimed "Defender of Bosnia" at royal request, the papal legate and newly appointed bishop Nicholas of Modruš crowned Stephen in the Church of Saint Mary in Jajce. It was the last coronation performed in Bosnia, as well as the only one performed with a crown sent from Rome. It exemplified how, with the religious persecution established by Thomas and with Stephen's active correspondence with the papacy, the Kingdom of Bosnia acquired the character of a true Catholic state only at its very end.