s early as the 15th century, inhabitants of the southern Balkans and the Aegean islands, viewing emigration as a safer option, started to leave with the Genoese and Venetian knights, and the Knights of St John, who under Ottoman pressure were forced abandon their dominions in these areas. Usually the movement of populations was organized after negotiations between the Ottomans, who guaranteed safe passage, and the local sovereigns who, ensured a new place of settlement. The Ottoman tactic was to allow their enemies and the local population who wished to leave to do so unhindered, provided they had already surrendered. So, in 1522 Knights of St John of Rhodes were accompanied to their new home in Malta by some of the islanders. Many Cretans, following Ottoman occupation in 1669, decided to move to the Ionian islands, then under Venetian rule, or to Venice itself. Similarly, people from Mani settled in Corsica, and inhabitants of the Peloponnesian coast, Nafplion and Monemvasia chose Istria and Dalmatia. Others left for Livorno, Tuscany and Naples. Once settled, they tried to acquire certain privileges and to be recognized as Greek communities in order to better confront the rising hostility and competition from the locals as well as to fend off attempts at conversion on the part of the Catholic church.