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

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

to capture

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

(or Zara), a Croatian coastal city in northern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

. 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 A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

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 or ...

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 th ...

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

and

land forces Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...

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

Siege

On 12 August 1345 Venetians started to

besiege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

the city and the surrounding

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

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

marine forces Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

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 co ...

s and other military activities, that can be divided into three

phases Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform *Phase space, a mathematica ...

. The first phase ended at the end of January 1346 with the Venetians' breaking of the

harbour chain A boom or a chain (also boom defence, harbour chain, river chain, chain boom, boom chain or variants) is an obstacle strung across a navigable stretch of water to control or block navigation. They are sometimes mixed with pile barrages. In moder ...

which from the beginning of siege prevented Venetian

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

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 such as curtain walls with to ...

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 Zaratine bishop, Nicolò Matafari, went into exile after the Venetian conquest, only returning when the city was back in Hungarian hands. 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. Under the treaty, the Venetian Republic lost influence over its Dalmatian holdings in exchange for ending hostilities with L ...

was signed in the city, in which the Republic of Venice renounced the territory between the Gulf of Kvarner and the city of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

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 Ladislaus the Magnanimous (, ; 15 February 1377 – 6 August 1414) was King of Naples from 1386 until his death and an unsuccessful claimant to the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Ladislaus was a skilled political and military leader, protector ...

. 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 to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

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 Sieges involving Hungary Zadar 1345

14th century in the Republic of Venice