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During his 1414 campaign in Anatolia, Mehmed came to [[Smyrna]], where several of the most important [[Latinokratia|Latin]] rulers of the Aegean—the [[Genoa|Genoese]] lords of [[Chios]], [[Phokaia]], and [[Lesbos]], and even the Grand Master of the [[Knights Hospitaller]]—came to do him obeisance.{{sfn|İnalcık|1991|p=975}}{{sfn|Magoulias|1975|pp=116–118}} According to the Byzantine historian [[Doukas (historian)|Doukas]], a contemporary of the events, the absence of the [[Duke of Naxos]] from this assembly provoked the ire of the Sultan, who in retaliation equipped a fleet of 30 vessels, under the command of Çali Bey, and in late 1415 sent it to raid the Duke's domains in the [[Cyclades]]. The Ottoman fleet ravaged the islands, and carried off a large part of the inhabitants of [[Andros]], [[Paros]], and [[Melos]].{{sfn|Miller|1908|pp=598–599}}{{sfn|Magoulias|1975|p=118}}{{sfn|İnalcık|1991|p=976}} On the other hand, the 16th-century Venetian historian [[Marino Sanuto the Younger]] indicates that the Ottoman attack was in retaliation for the raids against Ottoman shipping undertaken by [[Pietro Zeno]], the lord of Andros. Like the Duke of Naxos, Zeno was a Venetian citizen and vassal of the Republic of Venice, but he had not been included in the previous treaties between the Republic and the Ottomans, and had continued raiding Ottoman shipping on his own account.{{sfn|Sanudo|1733|loc=col. 899}}{{sfn|Laugier|1760|pp=426–427}}
apartApart from the attacks on Naxos, Ottoman raids were also directed against immediate Venetian interests. In June 1414, Ottoman ships also raided the Venetian colony of [[Euboea]] and pillaged its capital, [[Chalcis|Negroponte]], taking almost all its inhabitants prisoner; out of some 2,000 captives, the Republic was able after years to secure the release of 200 mostly elderly, women, and children, the rest being sold as slaves.{{sfn|Fabris|1992|p=174}} Furthermore, in the autumn of 1415, ostensibly in retaliation for Zeno's attacks, an Ottoman fleet of 42 ships—6 [[galley]]s, 26 [[galleot]]s, and the rest smaller [[brigantine]]s—tried to intercept a Venetian [[Muda (convoy)|merchant convoy]] coming from the [[Black Sea]] at the island of [[Tenedos]], at the southern entrance of the [[Dardanelles]]. The Venetian vessels were delayed at Constantinople by bad weather, but managed to pass through the Ottoman fleet and outrun its pursuit to the safety of Negroponte.{{sfn|Sanudo|1733|loc=cols. 899–900}}{{sfn|Manfroni|1902|pp=137–138}} The Ottoman fleet instead raided Euboea, including an attack on the fortress of [[Oreos]] (Loreo) in northern Euboea, but its defenders under the [[castellan]] Taddeo Zane resisted with success.{{sfn|Sanudo|1733|loc=cols. 899–900}}{{sfn|Manfroni|1902|p=137}} Nevertheless, the Turks were able to once again ravage the rest of the island, carrying off 1,500 captives, so that the local inhabitants even petitioned the [[Signoria of Venice]] for permission to become tributaries of the Turks to guarantee their future safety—a demand categorically rejected by the Signoria on 4 February 1416.{{sfn|Manfroni|1902|pp=137–138}}{{sfn|Setton|1978|p=8 (note 16)}} The raids spread considerable panic: [[Nafpaktos|Lepanto]] was deserted, and at Venice no one was found who wanted to contract, not even for a small sum, the right to equip merchant galleys of [[Tanais|Tana]], Constantinople, and [[Trabzon|Trebizond]], which ordinarily fetched prices up to 2,000 [[ducat]]s, forcing the Venetian government to supply armed escorts at its own expense.{{sfn|Manfroni|1902|p=139}} Nevertheless, the same missives to Venice also highlighted the bad state of the Turkish fleet, especially of its crews; and expressed the certainty that if a Venetian fleet had been present to confront them, it would have been victorious.{{sfn|Manfroni|1902|p=138}}
===Diplomatic and military response of Venice===
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