Siege of Zara: Difference between revisions

Boniface I of Montferrat
Simon de Montfort

Crusaders: 10,000 men[5]
Venetians: 10,000 men^[5]

• Venetians: 210 ships^[6]

The Siege of Zara or Siege of Zadar (

On the eve of the feast of Saint Martin, they arrived before Zara in Sclavonia and saw the city fortified with lofty walls and tall towers; you would have sought a finer, stronger, more impressive city in vain. And when the pilgrims saw it they were greatly astounded and said to one another, "How could such a city be taken by force, unless God Himself brought it about?"

— Joinville and Villehardouin (Translated by Margaret Shaw), Chronicles of the Crusades[10]

The agreement between the Venetians and the crusaders had set the date for the arrival of the host in Venice before the end of April 1202, in order to provide for a departure in time for a summer crossing at the end of June. The crusade leaders had counted on raising the money still owed to the Venetians through the collection of passage money from the individual crusaders. However, the first crusader groups did not leave France until April and May, others straggled along throughout the summer and some of the French nobles chose to sail instead from Marseilles and other ports.

Once the agreement was made, the crusaders and Venetians began boarding the ships. The crusaders used the 50 amphibious transports, 100 horse carriers and 60 warships designed and built for them by the Venetians. Their transports were approximately 30 m long, 9 m wide and 12 m high, with a crew of 100. Each one could carry up to 600 infantry. The horse carriers featured specially designed slings to carry their cargo of horses, and featured a fold-out ramp below the waterline that could be opened to allow mounted knights to charge directly onto shore. The Venetian warships were powered by 100 oarsmen each and featured a metal-tipped ram just above the waterline as their primary weapon.^[13] They also carried more than 300 siege weapons.

The Venetian fleet led by Doge Enrico Dandolo left harbor on 1 October towards Istria and imposed Venetian supremacy over Trieste, Muggia and Pula. Most of the Crusader forces left Venice on 8 October. The two armies met near Pula and sailed together towards Zadar.^[12] Doge Dandolo was in no hurry as he planned on staying in Zadar over winter.^[14]

On the eve of St. Martin's Day the fleet arrived at Zadar. The attack on Zadar took the form of an amphibious landing followed by a brief siege. Chains and booms were laid across the mouth of Zadar's harbor as a defense, but the crusaders burst through them in their Venetian ships and landed their troops and equipment near the city, where they made a camp.^[15] Citizens of Zadar hung flags with crosses on the walls, showing that they were a Christian city.^[12] Some of the Crusader leaders, including Simon de Montfort, Robert de Boves and Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay, refused to take part in the siege and requested that the city be spared. On behalf of the Pope, Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay forbade the conquest of the city "because it is a city of Christians, and you are pilgrims". However, most of the crusaders sided with Enrico Dandolo, while Simon de Montfort and other crusaders who refused to participate in the siege camped further away from the city.^[16]

On 13 November siege engines were placed and used to bombard the city's walls. Zadar fell on 24 November 1202, and the incident foreshadowed the

In 1203, Innocent excommunicated the entire crusading army, along with the Venetians, for taking part in the attack, writing:

Behold your gold has turned into base metal and your silver has almost completely rusted since, departing from the purity of your plan and turning aside from the path onto the impassable road, you have, so to speak, withdrawn your hand from the plough [...] for when [...] you should have hastened to the land flowing with milk and honey, you turned away, going astray in the direction of the desert.^[13]

He would later grant an absolution to the entire army.^[18]

Notes