As he reached Negroponte, the triarch Giberto II da Verona, Felisa's brother, and John I de la Roche, the Duke of Athens, who were present at the city, rode out with their forces to meet him.
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Already in 1269/1270, a Byzantine fleet under Alexios Doukas Philanthropenos had attacked and captured one of the island's major Latin strongholds, the town of Oreos.