its defense, leading the local troops herself. Though popular with the soldiers, Francesca's role was marginalized once Carlo arrived in the town late in 1394 or early 1395 and she soon thereafter left for Cephalonia. The conflict was resolved with Carlo agreeing to sell the town, and Francesca's other possessions, to Theodore for 6000 golden ducats and an annual rent of 600 golden ducats. The early 15th century saw Carlo I working to expand his domain—mainly successfully—into the lands of Epirus and drive out the local Albanians, who had ruled various principalities there since the collapse of the Serbian Empire, which had destroyed the original Despotate of Epirus in the 1340s. The motive for these conquests is not clear. Perhaps Carlo I worked to save the locals from perceived "Albanian tyranny" or perhaps he was retaliating; the Albanian lord John Spata had reportedly attacked the Tocco island domain during his mother's regency. In 1411, the ruler of the town of Ioannina (and Carlo I's uncle), Esau de' Buondelmonti, Despot of Epirus, died. The town was then held by his wife, Jevdokija Balšić, but on account of her unpopularity she was deposed by the locals, who appealed to Carlo I to become their ruler instead. Only two months after Esau's death, Carlo I made a triumphal entry into Ioannina. He almost immediately assumed the title of Despot, though the locals insisted that Carlo seek recognition of that title from the Byzantine emperor. After having received Carlo I's brother Leonardo II as an emissary, Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1391–1425) formally recognized Carlo I as a Despot in 1415. Miller referred to the Tocco dynasty under Carlo I and Leonardo II as "among the most ambitious and able Latin dynasties in the Levant". In the Ionian islands, the Tocco secured their power by grants of nobility and feudal landholdings to both Italian and local Greek families. Most positions in the Tocco power structure were occupied by loyal figures of Neapolitan or southern Italian origin, which established some level of disconnect between the Greek-speaking population and their Latin rulers. However, there was some involvement of Greeks in the Tocco court, though they mostly occupied the lower levels of the administrative hierarchy. Despots of Epirus Carlo I saw his title of Despot as granting him a claim on the lands formerly ruled by the Komnenos Doukas and Orsini dynasties of the Despotate of Epirus. He