Utilizing local Greek seamen, the Turks began to engage in piracy across the Aegean, targeting especially the numerous Latin island possessions.
[2] In 1304, the Turks of Menteshe (and later the Aydinids) captured the port town of Ephesus, and the islands of the eastern Aegean seemed about to fall to Turkish raiders.
[5] Pope John XXII rewarded Schwarzburg by restoring him to the post of grand preceptor of Cyprus, whence he had been dismissed two years earlier, and promised the commandery of Kos, if he could capture it.
[6] According to the historian Mike Carr, the victory at Chios was all the more significant because it had been achieved at the initiative of the Hospitallers and the Zaccarias, without any support or funding by other Western powers, most notably the Papacy, which was still embroiled in plans to launch a Crusade to the Holy Land.
It did nevertheless influence the strategic calculations of Western powers, and efforts began to form a Christian naval league to counter Turkish piracy.