Da Murta wanted to charge Adorno with the difficult task of negotiating a peace with the Aragonese, who were allied with the Republic of Venice against Genoa, along with the intercession of John II, Marquis of Montferrat.

He decreed perpetual exile from Genoa for the descendants of the Boccanegra family many of whom were confined in the small La Spezia town of Lerici under the custody of his relative Guglielmo Adorno.

Despite his efforts to raise Genoa after conflicts with the Aragonese and Venice and the Visconti, the dissatisfaction among the population, particularly regarding taxes, increased in part due to a new political opponent, Leonardo Montaldo, who would later become doge in 1383.

Adorno obtained the title of imperial vicar in 1368 from Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in an unsuccessful attempt to increase his popularity.

Another opponent, Domenico di Campofregoso, who Adorno had appointed vicar of the people, succeeded in exciting the crowd against the doge at a public assembly convened in the basilica Santa Maria delle Vigne.