Bianca of Savoy

Amadeus had reached Rivoli by February 15, and Pavia, where his brother-in-law Galeazzo II Visconti rules, by mid-March.

He then turned around and visited Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne before returning to Pavia by late May, there to be godfather at the baptism of his nephew Giangaleazzo's infant son Giangaleazzo II.

His sister, the elder Giangaleazzo's mother, Bianca, makes a donation to his war chest at this time, and his brother-in-law makes loans of both money and men: twenty-five thousand florins and twenty-five men-at-arms, six hundred brigandi (mercenaries) and sixteen conestabiles under his bastard son Cesare, to be paid at Galeazzo's expense for the first six months.

Half of the crusading host under Étienne de la Baume goes from here to Genoa to embark on the fleet awaiting it and take it to Venice.

On June 1, the rest of the army under Amadeus leaves for Padua, where …

…the ruling family, the Carraresi, offers him the use of their palace in Venice.

Amadeus and the main army arrive on June 8 at Venice, where the Venetians, informed that the crusade is not directed at the Holy Land, offer more assistance, including ships and men if the crusaders will take Tenedos from the Genoese (which they will not).

The departure of the fleet takes place around June 21.

The fleet sails down the Dalmatian coast, stopping at Pula (Pola), Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Corfu and finally Koroni (Coron), which is under Venetian control.

There Amadeus learns that Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Duke Louis II of Bourbon, whose sister Bonne is Amadeus's wife, is being besieged in her castle at Pylos (Navarino) by the Archbishop of Patras, Angelo Acciaioli, who has seized her lands on behalf of Philip of Taranto, her brother-in-law, who disputes the claim to the Principality of Achaea by Marie on behalf of her young son, Hugh, whose father is the late Robert of Taranto.

Early in 1366 Marie and Hugh had raised an army of mercenaries from Cyprus and Provence, and had begun to reclaim the territory of the principality she claims.

During negotiations, Marie's castellan of Pylos, Guillaume de Talay, had arrested Simone del Poggio, the bailiff of Philip of Taranto, and imprisoned him in Pylos's dungeons.

By the time of Amadeus's arrival, a counteroffensive led by the archbishop has cornered Marie and Hugh in Pylos.

The count of Savoy is requested to arbitrate.

He determines that Marie should renounce any claim over Patras, and that the archbishop should evacuate his troops from southern Achaea and leave Marie in peaceful possession of it.

At Koroni, the Venetian fleet, which was being led by Antelme d'Urtières, captain of the count's galley, rendezvouses with the Genoese to form a fleet of fifteen ships under the overall command of the admiral Étienne de la Baume.

The army is divided between the galleys on the basis of geography: there is one ship for the men of Bresse (Breysse), another for "the men of Faucigny" (des gens de Foucignie), another for those of Savoy proper (Savoye), etc.

All the ships are to sail within sight of each other and none to sail ahead of the count's, fines being prescribed for violations of these commands.

Flag signals by day and lanterns by night are used to communicate between ships; attack signals are given by trumpeters on the count's ship.

The entire voyage is strictly controlled by the count of Savoy.

From Koroni, …

...the fleet proceeds to Agios Georgios (San Giorgio d'Albora) on Hydra, thence to Chalcis (Negroponte), and finally Evripos, the last stop before they enter Turkish territory.

Here they buy clean water, and the count's physician, Gui Albin, purchases saculi pro stomaco, some kind of disinfectant for the stomach.

The crusaders are hoping for assistance from Emperor John V Palaiologos, but the pope has made it dependent on his bringing the Greek Orthodox Church back into communion with the Roman Catholic Church—and under papal supremacy—even though it is the Constantinople and its empire that the crusade is seeking to relieve from Turkish pressure.

The crusaders also expect support from Louis of Hungary, although all that will ever be received is two royal squires who will serve Amadeus "in the Bulgarian provinces" (in partibus Burgarie).

John V travels in the spring of 1366 to the Hungarian court to accept military aid and swear an oath on behalf of himself and his sons to convert to Catholicism.

Pope Urban had extended to Louis the Crusade indulgence on July 1, but on July 22 a letter from the pope had suspended the privileges granted earlier that month for one year, postponing assistance to the Greeks until after their return to the Catholic fold and convincing Louis not to assist the "schismatic", although the pope had not expressly forbid him to.

On his return through Bulgaria, so recently attacked by his would-be ally, John finds himself trapped, either imprisoned or surrounded by Bulgarian forces, and unable to continue to his own domain, where his son, Andronikos IV, married to Keratsa, daughter of the Bulgarian tsar, has taken control of the government.

Amadeus and John V are first cousins; John's mother, Anna, is the sister of Amadeus's father, Aymon.

After being apprised of the situation in Bulgaria and of the Turkish positions in Europe, Amadeus leads his fleet into the Dardanelles, where it is joined by a flotilla under Francesco I Gattilusio, Prince of Lesbos, and son-in-law of the trapped emperor.

They may also have been met by a detachment of the imperial army under the Patriarch of Constantinople, as the Savoyard chronicles record.

The combined crusader fleet launches an attack on Gelibolu (Gallipoli), the second city of the European Turks, on August 22.

While the army begins the siege with an assault on the walls, during the night the Turks abandon the city and in the morning the inhabitants open the gates to the crusaders.

The sources shed limited light on this brief episode.

It is known from the count's register that both town and citadel are in Savoyard hands by August 26, and garrisons and commanders are appointed for each—Giacomo di Luserna for the city and Aimone Michaele for the citadel, with responsibility for not just defending Gelibolu but also for guarding the entrance to the straits.

On August 27, a messenger is sent westward with news of the count's victory.

The chronicles explain the rapid success by the Turkish retreat, but it is also known that on September 12, at Beyoğlu (Pera) in Constantinople, the count was preparing the funerals of several of his men who died in the attack on Gelibolu.

Simon de Saint-Amour and Roland de Veissy, both knights of the Collar, had been killed, and the count's bursar, Antoine Barbier had purchased eighteen escutcheons bearing the "device of the Collar" (devisa collarium) for their funeral, while eighty-one wax torches and alms were paid for the burial of Girard Mareschal from Savoy and Jean d'Yverdon from the Vaudois.

A large storm in the Sea of Marmora had initially prevented the remainder of the crusade from leaving Gelibolu, but by September4 they had arrived by sea at Constantinople.

The fleet has landed at Beyoğlu (Pera), the Genoese quarter where most of his men stay, although some take lodgings in Galata, the borgo de Veneciis (Venetian quarter), and Amadeus himself purchases a house in the city proper, which he has to furnish.

Besides the cost of furniture and funerals, the count has to pay his interpreter Paulo three months' wages.

Amadeus sends a Savoyard embassy from Constantinople, to John V, who is apparently at Vidin.

He seems to have asked for armed intervention to free him to return to his capital.

His empress, Helena Kantakouzene, offers the count of Savoy money for a military expedition into Bulgaria, although Amadeus has no warrant from the pope to attack the Bulgarians, fellow Christians albeit schimastics (non-Catholics).

Leaving a contingent behind in Constantinople, the count leads a fleet up the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria on October 4.

In two days they reach the port of "Lorfenal" (l'Orfenal) and then Sozopolis, which was long supposed to have been in imperial hands, but now appears to have belonged to the Bulgars.

No battle takes place, and it is not clear if the city surrendered or was simply bypassed.

The expense accounts of Amadeus VI show him to have been "at Sozopolis" (apud Tisopuli) for 17–19 October, but he may have only camped outside its walls.

He may, however, have captured Burgas.

The city of Nesebar (Mesembria) and its citadel are captured on October 20.

The Mesembrians, having put up a stiff resistance that has caused the death of many Christian knights and squires, are put to the sword, women and children not spared, and the city is pillaged.

Pomorie, which the Savoyards call Lassillo or l'Assillo (from Axillo, or Anchialus) is next captured, and perhaps also Macropolis (Manchopoly) and Scafida (Stafida), and the Savoyards control the Gulf of Burgas.