After the death of Stephanos Kontostephanos, Manuel I put Ioannes Axouch, the megas domestikos, in charge of the assault on Kerkyra. Axouch was not made megas doux, but chosen as an experienced fighter, and pursued the siege for three months. Manuel meanwhile, so as not to waste his time, toured Kerkyra looking for places to attack. Axouch had little success, because of quarrels with the Venetians, so Manuel took over himself. As he was completely baffled, he settled on a ravine giving good access to the interior of the town. He built a wooden scaling ladder in the form of a tower that gave it protection, using ships' timbers and masts lashed to reach the necessary height. When raised, the top of his ladder rested on the rock at a point that gave access for those attacking the defenders of the city wall, while the bottom was held secure by ships; he then sought his bravest troops to climb it. The first volunteers, who disputed first place on the ladder, were the four Petraliphas brothers and the Turk Poupakes. They climbed amidst great emotion against strong opposition, and achieved great deeds on top of the wall. Just as the first reached the top, the ladder collapsed and most of those on it perished. Before the dead had been appropriately mourned, a quarrel broke out between Byzantines and Venetians leading to open warfare. Leaders on both sides tried in vain to intervene, till Axouch was forced into a full attack which drove the Venetians into their ships. The Venetians damaged the Euboean squadron of the imperial navy, then stole the imperial galley, furnished it with its full trappings, and paraded a black Ethiopian around, mocking imperial ceremonies and Manuel's swarthy complexion.