The siege of Zadar (12 August 1345 – 21 December 1346) was a successful attempt of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

to capture

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

(or Zara), a Croatian coastal city in northern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. It was a combined land and sea offensive by the Venetians, consisting of many separate battles and operations against the citizens of Zadar, who refused to accept Venetian

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

and demanded autonomy. Despite receiving military aid from Croato-Hungarian king Louis the Angevin, Zadar was unable to resist the siege and was finally defeated.

Background

The siege resulted from the long-term complex political relations between the City of Zadar and the Republic of Venice as well as from the change of

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

of the Croato-Hungarian ruler after the young Louis of Angevin ascended the throne in 1342. The king wished to maintain full control over the territory of the Kingdom of Croatia, including cities and towns of Dalmatia, most of which were in the hands of the Venetians. The citizens of Zadar rebelled against the rule of the ''Serenissima Repubblica'' in 1344, asking king Louis for help. He launched

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...

s to the south of Croatia in September 1344 and in July 1345, but they did not bring the desired breakthrough. In the meantime the Venetians decided to protect their interests in Dalmatia, gathered troops (some 20,000 – 25,000) and sent them in the summer of 1345 to the area of Zadar. They had both

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and land forces at their disposal, whereas king Louis commanded only land forces.

Siege

On 12 August 1345 Venetians started to besiege the city and the surrounding

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s. Their land army was commanded by Marco Giustiniani and their

marine forces Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

were under the command of Pietro de Canale. The siege consisted of many separate operations, movements,

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

s and other military activities, that can be divided into three phases. The first phase ended at the end of January 1346 with the Venetians' breaking of the harbour chain which from the beginning of siege prevented Venetian

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

s from entering the Zadar port. The breaking enabled the besiegers to come closer to the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

and to control the movements of Zadar ships. In the meantime, Pietro Civrano took over supreme command of the Venetian forces as ''capitaneus generalis''. The second phase was marked by the king Louis' army entering the conflict. In late springtime the King's forces attacked the Venetian fortress (''bastida'') built near Zadar at the beginning of the siege, but without success. Although large in number (according some sources up to 100.000 men), they were compressed in the narrow passage between the fortress and the sea, so they could not come closer strong enough to capture the fortress. Besides, they were under heavy fire from two sides – from the Venetian ships and from ballistic devices in the fortress. The major attack of the Croato-Hungarian forces took place on 1 July 1346, but at the end the Venetians carried the day. Louis the Angevin decided to retreat and ordered his troops to move northwards. In the third phase Zadar's defenders remained alone. They were short of food and water and without new

supply lines Military supply-chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services for military materiel applications. Military supply chain management includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal inf ...

, but they fought on until December. Finally, on 21 December 1346 the Venetian troops marched into town and took control of it.

Aftermath

The city of Zadar remained under Venetian control until king Louis the Angevin invaded Venetian territories and captured all Dalmatian cities and islands in 1357. On 18 February 1358 the

Treaty of Zadar The Treaty of Zadar, also known as the Treaty of Zara, was a peace treaty signed in Zadar, Dalmatia on February 18, 1358 by which the Venetian Republic lost influence over its Dalmatian holdings. The Treaty of Zadar ended hostilities between Loui ...

was signed in the city, in which the Republic of Venice renounced the territory between the Gulf of Kvarner and the city of Durrës in favour of Louis. Zadar remained a self-governing community under Croato-Hungarian kings and queens until 1409, when it was sold, together with all of Dalmatia, to the Republic of Venice by the king Ladislaus of Naples. He was about to be defeated by his opponent for the crown, Sigismund the Luxemburgian, and took the opportunity to sell his "regal rights" over Dalmatia for the sum of 100.000

ducats The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...

References

Sources

External links

Siege of Zadar - a long siege launched by the Venetian land and naval forces

Siege of Zadar showed the naval power of Venice

Siege of Zadar – one of the longest sieges in Croatian history (16 months)
(''Croatian'')
Diplomatic activities of the citizens of Zadar during the siege 1345-1346
(''Croatian'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Zadar (1345-46)

1340s conflicts Venetian period in the history of Croatia 1345 in Europe 1346 in Europe

Zadar 1345 Conflicts in 1345 Conflicts in 1346 History of Zadar Zadar 1345

14th century in the Republic of Venice