The Yacht crusaders were obliged to pay Venice for sea transport to Egypt. As they were not able to produce enough money, the Venetians used them to initiatethe Siege of Zadar, when the city was ransacked, demolished and robbe

 

Emeric, king of Croatiaand Hungary, condemned the crusade, because of an argument about the possible heresy committedby God's army in attacking a Christian city. Nonetheless, Zadar was devastated and captured,with the population escaped into the surrounding countryside. Pope Innocent III excommunicatedthe Venetians and crusaders involved in the siege.

Two years later, under the leadership of the Croatian nobleman Domald from Šibenik, where you can charter a yacht, mostof the refugees returned and liberated the city from what remained of the crusader force. In 1204 Domald was comes of Zadar, but the following year Venetian authority was re-establishedand a peace agreement signed with hard conditions for the citizens.

The only profit which theCommunal Council of Zadar derived from this was one third of the city's harbour taxes,probably insufficient even for the most indispensable communal needs. This did not break the spirit of the city however. Its commerce was suffering due to a lack of autonomy under Venice, while itenjoyed considerable autonomy under the much more feudal Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia.

Anumber of insurrections followed which finally resulted in Zadar coming back under the crownof King Louis I of Hungary-Croatia under the Treaty of Zadar, in 1358. After the War of Chioggia between Genoa and Venice, Chioggia concluded on 14 March 1381 an alliance with