 On the recommendation of their mutual friend, Demetrius Cydones, Francesco allowed Manuel Palaiologos to shelter on Lesbos for at least two months in the summer of 1387, after Manuel had fled Thessalonica.However Francesco did not allow Manuel to take up residence inside the walls of Mytilene, possibly due to the size of his entourage or because Francesco did not want to anger the Ottoman Sultan Murad I.In November 1388, Francesco joined in an alliance with the Knights of Rhodes, the Genoese of Chios, Jacques I of Cyprus, and the Genoese of Galata against Sultan Murad.