Pietro Zeno (died 1345)

Pietro Zeno[a] (died 17 January 1345) was the Venetian captain and bailiff of Negroponte (1331–33)[b] and one of the leaders of the Smyrniote crusade (1343–45).

[3] In May–June 1332, an Aydinid Turkish fleet of 380 ships under Umur Bey attacked Negroponte.

[4] On 18 July 1332, Doge Francesco Dandolo charged Zeno and Pietro da Canale with arranging an anti-Turkish alliance.

[3] In September 1343, the Venetian Grand Council elected Zeno captain of the flotilla of five galleys which it was sending to assist the crusade against Aydinid-held Smyrna.

[6] Although the crusade was a great naval success and Smyrna was taken, Zeno was killed by Umur Bey's forces in an ambush while he and the other crusader leaders, including Henry of Asti, were attempting to celebrate a mass in a church in the no-man's-land between the battle lines.