The collapse of Constantinople's power in western…
1312 CE to 1323 CE
The Turks, utilizing local Greek seamen, began to engage in piracy across the Aegean, targeting especially the numerous Latin island possessions.
The feuds between the two major Latin maritime states, Venice and Genoa, aid the Turkish corsair activities.
The Turks of Menteshe (and later the Aydinids) had captured the port town of Ephesus in 1304, and the islands of the eastern Aegean seemed about to fall to Turkish raiders.
The Knights Hospitaller occupied Rhodes to forestall such a calamitous event, in about 1308, the same year the Genoese occupied Chios, where Benedetto I Zaccaria had established a minor principality.
These two powers will bear the brunt of countering Turkish pirate raids until 1329.
Locations
People
Groups
Oghuz Turks
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Muslims, Sunni
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Papal States (Republic of St. Peter)
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Turkmen people
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Genoa, (Most Serene) Republic of
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Christians, Roman Catholic
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Christians, Eastern Orthodox
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Venice, (Most Serene) Republic of
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Menteş, Beylik of
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Aydınoğlu Beylik (Turkmen Emirate) of
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Knights Hospitaller (of Rhodes), Order of the
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