Battle of Lastovo (1000)

Battle of Lastovo (1000)
Part of the Croatian-Venetian wars

The departure of doge's ship on Ascension Day to military campaign to southern Croatia
Date1000
LocationLastovo, Theme of Dalmatia,
ceded from Byzantine Empire
to Kingdom of Croatia
Result Venetian victory
Belligerents
 Republic of Venice Kingdom of Croatia
Commanders and leaders
Doge Pietro II Orseolo unknown
Strength
unknown unknown
Casualties and losses
unknown unknown
Before the battle, the island of Lastovo was part of the Theme of Dalmatia, ceded from Byzantine Empire to Kingdom of Croatia

The Battle of Lastovo in the year 1000 was part of the campaign of doge Pietro II Orseolo to southern Croatia and its bloodiest armed conflict between the citizens of Lastovo island and the army of the Republic of Venice. The battle resulted in a Venetian victory and Lastovo became part of the Republic of Saint Mark for a while.

Background

After the death of Stjepan Držislav, king of Croatia and ally of the Byzantine Empire, in 997, 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. Thanks to aid of Western Bulgarian (Macedonian) emperor Samuil, Krešimir and Gojslav managed to remove Svetoslav Suronja from the Croatian throne in the year 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 from weakened Croatia. Since their mostly Romanized population, the majority of cities welcomed the Venetian ruler, but some of them did not. Particularly, the island of Lastovo fiercely resisted the Venetian incursion.

Siege

The exact date of the battle 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 defensive walls, ready to resist. Orseolo ordered them to surrender but they refused to do it, so he started to attack the town. His troops besieged it, trying to break the town gate as well as to seize the defensive towers. They succeeded in capturing the tower with water supply cistern, which seemed to be a big loss 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 (later Republic of Dubrovnik).

See also

References

    External links

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