Arsenije continued the policies of his predecessors. He traveled extensively and negotiated with the Austrians in order to liberate his people from Ottoman rule. When the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) broke out, the Serbs revolted. The Ottomans wanted to capture and kill Patriarch Arsenije IV, but he escaped. After the Austrians were defeated, Arsenije escaped to Austria along with many other refugees. After the peace treaty was signed the Ottomans retained the city of Belgrade, and the territories of what is today Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The Ottoman Porte selected and appointed a new patriarch at the Serbian Patriarchal seat in Peć, the Greek Joannicius, from their trusted Phanariotes.