The Siege of Zara was the first major action of the Fourth Crusade. It was also the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders. Pope Innocent III negotiated an agreement with the Republic of Venice. The deal stipulated that about 35,000 crusaders would need transport.
About Siege of Zara in brief
The Siege of Zara was the first major action of the Fourth Crusade. It was also the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders. Pope Innocent III negotiated an agreement with the Republic of Venice, Europe’s dominant sea power at the time, involving the construction of a fleet of warships and transports. The deal stipulated that about 35,000 crusaders would need transport and the Venetians would be paid 94,000 marks of silver, to be paid in installments. Some of the crusaders refused to take part in the siege, but the attack on Zadar began in November 1202 despite letters from Pope Innocent 3 forbidding such an action and threatening excommunication. The siege ended on 24 November, and the Crusade continued its campaign, which led to the Siege of Constantinople. After 1291, Zara rebelled against Venetian Republic in 1183, and placed itself under the dual protection of the Papacy and King Emeric of Hungary.
Though a large group of crusaders found the scheme repulsive and refused to participate, the majority agreed it was necessary to attain the larger goal of taking Jerusalem. The crusaders used the 50 amphibious transports for boarding the ships, which were approximately 9m wide and approximately 30m wide, to board the ships and board them. After the agreement was made, the 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. In the end, only about 12,000 Crusaders showed up at Venice to man and pay for them.
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This page is based on the article Siege of Zara published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
