 Following the Fourth Crusade and the signature of the ', Corfu came under Venetian rule.In 1207 though, doge Pietro Ziani ceded the island as a ' to ten Venetian nobles, provided that they demonstrate loyalty and devotion and that they pay taxes.Corfu passed in the hands of the Despotate of Epirus around 1214, and was captured in 1257 by Manfred of Sicily, who put his admiral Philippe Chinard there in charge of his eastern possessions.