whereas despite the use of convoys their own trade suffered heavily from dispersed Genoese corsairs. The largest Genoese success occurred in 1264, when their admiral Simone Grillo lured away from the Venetian war fleet and captured most of the large convoy left unprotected. Disputes between the Genoese and Michael VIII enabled the partial restoration of Venice's position and trading rights in the Byzantine Empire, with a truce signed in 1268. The war ended in 1270 with the Peace of Cremona, mediated by Louis IX of France, who wished to embark on a crusade and needed the rival fleets for this undertaking. Venice had strengthened its position in what remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but failed to prevent the revival of Genoese fortunes in the Byzantine world and the establishment of Genoese commercial superiority in the Black Sea, which endured until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. War of 1294–1299 Continuing rivalry between the two cities led to clashes in 1291 and the formal resumption of war in 1295. Early Venetian victories were overshadowed by late Genoan victories and overall military success on the part of the Genoans, despite suffering heavier damage to their fleet. In 1294 a fleet sent out from Venice was destroyed by a force gathered from Genoa's eastern colonies off the important port of Laiazzo in Cilician Armenia. Civil conflict in Genoa prevented the deployment of a major fleet in 1296, and the unopposed Venetian fleet raided the main Genoese settlements in the eastern Mediterranean, pillaging the suburbs of Phokaia in the Aegean and Caffa in the Crimea, and burning the unwalled settlement of Pera outside Constantinople. In 1297 the Venetians again refused battle, but they were forced to fight in 1298 when the Genoese fleet under Lamba Doria entered the Adriatic. In the largest battle ever fought between the two republics, off Korcula (Curzola), the Venetian fleet under Andrea Dandolo was destroyed. However, the Genoese, who had suffered heavy casualties and were troubled by continuing domestic conflict in Liguria, returned home rather than advancing against Venice, and a compromise peace was concluded the following year. It was in this war that Marco Polo, fighting for his native Venice, was taken prisoner and while in prison wrote his memoirs. In 1296 the local Genoese residents of Constantinople destroyed the Venetian quarter and killed many Venetian civilians. Despite the Byzantine–Venetian truce of 1285, the Byzantine emperor