Siege of Lastovo

Last updated
Siege of Lastovo
Part of the Croatian-Venetian wars
Date1000
Location
Result Venetian victory
Belligerents
Republic of Venice Kingdom of Croatia
Narentines
Commanders and leaders
Doge Pietro II Orseolo Unknown
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The siege of Lastovo in 1000 was part of the campaign of Doge Pietro II Orseolo in southern Croatia and its bloodiest armed conflict between the citizens of Lastovo island and the army of Venice. The siege resulted in a Venetian victory and Lastovo was annexed into the Venetian republic.

Contents

Background

After the death of Croatian King Stjepan Držislav in 997, an ally of the Byzantine Empire, who ruled in the last three decades of the 10th century and was recognized by Byzantine emperor as the king of Croatia and Dalmatia, his eldest son and successor Svetoslav Suronja continued the pro-Byzantine policy, but his younger sons Krešimir and Gojslav started to organize a rebellion. With the aid of Bulgarian emperor Samuil, Krešimir and Gojslav managed to remove Svetoslav Suronja from the Croatian throne in 1000 and forced him to seek refuge in Venice.

At the same time, Doge Pietro II Orseolo prepared Venetian forces to take control over Dalmatian cities that were part of the Byzantine Empire, Croatia, and Narentines. Since the maritime city populations were mostly Latin, the majority of cities welcomed the Venetian ruler, but some of them did not. In particular, the island of Lastovo fiercely resisted the Venetian incursion.

Siege

Before the siege, the island of Lastovo was part of the Theme of Dalmatia, ceded from the Byzantine Empire to the Kingdom of Croatia. Pagania04.png
Before the siege, the island of Lastovo was part of the Theme of Dalmatia, ceded from the Byzantine Empire to the Kingdom of Croatia.

The exact date of the siege of Lastovo is not known. According to John the Deacon, Orseolo's chronicler, the doge attended the Holy Mass on Ascension Day (9 May 1000) in Venice. Then he led his fleet towards Grado to visit the patriarch and on 11 May he sailed southwards.

As the fleet reached Lastovo, the residents of the town did not welcome it, but waited behind the city walls, ready to resist. Orseolo ordered them to surrender but they refused, so he started to attack the town. His troops besieged it, trying to break the town gate as well as to seize the towers of the wall. They succeeded in capturing the tower with the water cistern, which was a big setback for the remaining defenders. Finally, they were forced to surrender and to lay down their weapons. The doge spared their lives, but gave the order to his soldiers to destroy the defensive walls and to burn down the town. The citizens were moved away to the other side of the island, where they built a new settlement.

Aftermath

Pietro II Orseolo subjected Lastovo to Venetian authority. Then, he moved further with his fleet towards Dubrovnik, whose dignitaries showed loyalty to him, and returned subsequently to Venice. He started to carry the title of Dux Dalmatianorum (Duke of the Dalmatians).

For the next few decades, the island of Lastovo remained a Venetian possession. It came back and stayed under Croatian rule during the reign of King Stjepan I (ruled 1030-1058) and his successors. In 1252 the residents of Lastovo decided to join the Community of Dubrovnik (ital. Ragusa), (later Republic of Dubrovnik).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pietro II Orseolo</span> Doge of Venice from 991 to 1009

Pietro II Orseolo (961−1009) was the Doge of Venice from 991 to 1009, and a member of the House of Orseolo. He began the period of eastern expansion of Venice that lasted for the better part of 500 years. He secured his influence in the Dalmatian Romanized settlements from the Croats and Narentines, freed Venetia from a 50-year-old taxation to the latter, and started Venetia's expansions by conquering the islands of Lastovo (Lagosta) and Korčula (Curzola) and acquiring Dubrovnik (Ragusa).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Krešimir IV</span> First king of Dalmatia and Croatia.

Peter Krešimir IV, called the Great was King of Dalmatia and Croatia from 1059 until his death in 1074 or 1075. He was the last great ruler of the Krešimirović branch of the Trpimirović dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trpimirović dynasty</span> Croatian medieval dynasty

The Trpimirović dynasty was a native Croatian dynasty that ruled in the Duchy and later the Kingdom of Croatia, with interruptions by the Domagojević dynasty from 845 until 1091. It was named after Trpimir I, the first member and founder. The most prominent rulers of the Trpimirović Dynasty include Tomislav, Petar Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. The house gave four dukes, thirteen kings and a queen.

The History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the area that covers eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, from the 2nd century BC up to the present day. The region was populated by Illyrian tribes around 1,000 B.C, including the Delmatae, who formed a kingdom and for whom the province is named. Later it was conquered by Rome, thus becoming the province of Dalmatia, part of the Roman Empire. Dalmatia was ravaged by barbaric tribes in the beginning of the 4th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orseolo</span>

The House of Orseolo was a powerful Venetian noble family descended from Orso Ipato and his son Teodato Ipato, the first Doges of Venice. Four members of the Orseolo family became Doges, Commander of the Venetian fleet, and King of Hungary. They reconstructed St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace after the revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lastovo</span> Island in Croatia

Lastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 94,7% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi). The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the largest town. The majority of the population lives on the 46 square kilometres (18 sq mi) island of Lastovo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Držislav</span> King of Croatia from 969 to c. 997

Stephen Držislav was King of Croatia from AD 969 until his death around 997. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty.

Svetoslav Suronja, was King of Croatia from 997 to 1000. A member of the Trpimirović dynasty, he reigned with the help of his ban, Varda. John the Deacon called him "Surinja", adopted in Croatian historiography as "Suronja", meaning "dark man" or "cold man", probably due to his temper. He was the oldest son of king Stephen Držislav, from whom he received the title of duke, and was designated as his successor.

Gojslav was a monarch who co-ruled the Kingdom of Croatia with his brother Krešimir III from 1000 to his death in 1020. He was the youngest son of the former Croatian King Stjepan Držislav and a member of royal House of Trpimirović.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen I of Croatia</span> King of Croatia

Stephen I was King of Croatia from c. 1030 until his death in 1058 or 1060 and a member of the Krešimirović branch of the so-called Trpimirović dynasty. Stephen I was the first Croatian king whose given name was simply "Stephen" ("Stjepan"), as Držislav added the name Stephen at his coronation. His ban was Stephen Praska.

Krešimir III was King of Croatia from 1000 until his death in 1030. He was from the Trpimirović dynasty and founder of the Krešimirović branch of the family. He was the middle son of former King Stjepan Držislav. Until 1020, he co-ruled with his brother Gojslav.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian–Bulgarian wars</span>

The Croatian–Bulgarian Wars were a series of conflicts that erupted three times during the 9th and 10th centuries between the medieval realms of Croatia and Bulgaria. During these wars, Croatia formed alliances with East Francia and Byzantium against the Bulgarian Empire.

Stjepan was a son of Croatian King Svetoslav Suronja, member of Trpimirović dynasty.

This article presents a detailed timeline of the history of the Republic of Venice from its legendary foundation to its collapse under the efforts of Napoleon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narentines</span> South Slavic tribe

The Narentines were a South Slavic tribe noted as pirates on the Adriatic Sea in the 9th and 10th centuries. They occupied an area of southern Dalmatia centered at the river Neretva. Named Narentani in Venetian sources, they were called Paganoi, "pagans", by the Greeks, as they were still pagan after the Christianization of the neighbouring tribes. They were fierce enemies of the Republic of Venice, attacking Venetian merchants and clergy traveling through the Adriatic, and even raiding close to Venice itself and defeating the doge several times. Venetian–Narentine peace treaties did not last long, as the Narentines quickly returned to piracy. They were finally defeated in a Venetian crackdown at the turn of the 10th century and disappeared from sources by the 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalmatia (theme)</span>

The Theme of Dalmatia was a Byzantine theme on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in Southeastern Europe, headquartered at Jadera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian Dalmatia</span> Historical parts of Dalmatia under the rule of the Republic of Venice

Venetian Dalmatia refers to parts of Dalmatia under the rule of the Republic of Venice, mainly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Dalmatia was first sold to Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia was not fully consolidated until 1420. It lasted until 1797, when the Republic of Venice fell to the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte and Habsburg Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalmatian city-states</span> Romance-populated city-states in Dalmatia

Dalmatian city-states were formerly Roman municipalities in Dalmatia where the local Romance population survived the Barbarian invasions after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 400s CE. Eight little cities were created by the indigenous Illyro-Roman inhabitants of the region, who maintained political links with the Eastern Roman Empire, which in return defended these cities, enabling their commercial trade with Byzantium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Zadar (998)</span>

The siege of Zadar in 998 was part of the third Croatian–Bulgarian war and one of the last military conflicts between Croatian forces of King Svetoslav Suronja, supported by Venice and the Byzantine Empire, and the army of Emperor Samuil, who launched a large-scale Bulgarian military campaign against the Kingdom of Croatia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian–Venetian wars</span> Series of medieval conflicts between the City-state of Venice and the Principality of Croatia

The Croatian–Venetian wars were a series of periodical, punctuated medieval conflicts and naval campaigns waged for control of the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea between the city-state of Venice and the Principality of Croatia, at times allied with neighbouring territories – the Principality of the Narentines and Zahumlje in the south and Istrian peninsula in the north. First struggles occurred at the very beginning of the existence of two conflict parties, they intensified in the 9th century, lessened during the 10th century, but intensified again since the beginning of the 11th century.

References