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Setting the scene
The Fourth Crusade, called by Pope Innocent III in 1198 to retake Jerusalem, contracted with Venice in 1201 for transport to Egypt. Doge Enrico Dandolo agreed to provide ships for 33,500 crusaders and 4,500 horses for 85,000 marks. But only about 12,000 crusaders arrived in Venice in 1202, unable to pay. Dandolo, aged about 90 and blind, offered a deal: help Venice recapture Zara (Zadar), a Christian city in Dalmatia that had rebelled against Venetian rule, and he would postpone payment.
What happened
Despite papal prohibition against attacking Christians, the crusaders, desperate and indebted, agreed. In November 1202, the combined Venetian-crusader fleet besieged Zara. The city surrendered on November 24 after a brief siege. The crusaders then sacked Zara, despite it displaying crosses on its walls to emphasize its Christian status. Pope Innocent III excommunicated the entire expedition, though he later lifted the excommunication for crusaders (but not Venetians) when they promised to proceed to the Holy Land.
Why it still matters
The sack of Zara was the first major diversion of the Fourth Crusade and set the precedent for attacking Christians. It demonstrated the crusade's financial desperation and Venetian control. The crusaders wintered at Zara, where they were approached by agents of Alexios Angelos, son of deposed Byzantine emperor Isaac II, offering money and military aid for the crusade if they restored his father. This led to the fateful decision to divert to Constantinople in 1203, culminating in the 1204 sack. Zara's fall showed how commercial interests had corrupted the crusading ideal.
Background
The diversion foreshadowed the attack on Constantinople. Even centuries later, this episode remains a reference point for how empires rise, fracture, and transform.