Crusades · SITE OF MEMORY · 1202

Siege of Zara (1202)

On the Crusades map as “The sack of Zara”

Nov 1202 — to pay off their debt to Venice, the crusaders storm Zara, a Christian, Catholic city. They are excommunicated for the attack. This first wrong turn makes those that follow easier. Zara is a site of memory.

When: Nov 1202
Type: Site of memory
Chapter: Fourth Crusade (chapter 8 of Crusades)
Atlas: The Crusades, 1095–1291

Open this map in the interactive atlas →

Chapter 8 is included with every paid plan. WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.

Free printable Crusades study guide, sent by email ↓

Map showing Siege of Zara (1202), site of memory in The Crusades, 1095–1291 — SITE OF MEMORY · THE CRUSADES, 1095–1291

These maps are reconstructed from published sources · Cliopatria v0.2.1 — historical political boundaries · Simon Barton — Crusading in Iberia, c. 1060–1212 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Byzantium (ca. 330–1453) · The Metropolitan Museum of Art — The Crusades (1095–1291) · Natural Earth — physical reference geography · OpenStax — The Crusading Movement

Source details

Cliopatria contributors / Seshat Global History Databank. CC BY 4.0 · Dated polygons selected; local transfers and shared frontier edges derived with documented historical event corrections.
Simon Barton, The Cambridge History of the Crusades. Published summary consulted for dated conquests; no map copied
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Facts consulted; no prose or image copied
Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, 2014. Facts consulted; no prose or image copied
Natural Earth. Public domain
OpenStax, World History Volume 1. CC BY 4.0

The 1204 Byzantine partition uses the earliest separate successor-state outlines, from 1206, with their reference dates explicitly recorded. Western and Islamic neighbors retain their own dated sources.

At some ports, source coastlines have offsets of several kilometers at their resolution. The original polygons are preserved, and the review record gives explicit coastal anchor tolerances.

proxy: 1206 reference for post1204 partition · proxy: 1206–1209 reference for1204 · reconstruction: 1028–1325 · reconstruction: 1040–1235 · reconstruction: 1099–1235 · reconstruction: 1147–1209 · reconstruction: 1169–1209 · reconstruction: 1188–1209 · reconstruction: 1202–1205 · reconstruction: 1202–1219 · reconstruction: 1202–1249 · reconstruction: 1204 · reconstruction: 1206 reference for post1204 partition · vector: 1018–1205 · vector: 1072–1235 · vector: 1072–1249 · vector: 1072–1325 · vector: 1094–1235 · vector: 1099–1226 · vector: 1139–1226 · vector: 1152–1205 · vector: 1169–1205 · vector: 1169–1209 · vector: 1177–1259 · vector: 1188–1205 · vector: 1188–1209 · vector: 1188–1215 · vector: 1188–1219 · vector: 1188–1235 · vector: 1188–1259 · vector: 1188–1271 · vector: 1192–1205 · vector: 1192–1235 · vector: 1192–1362 · vector: 1202–1205 · vector: 1202–1209 · vector: 1202–1215 · vector: 1202–1219 · vector: 1202–1235 · vector: 1202–1240 · vector: 1202–1249 · vector: 1202–1259 · vector: 1202–1284 · vector: 1204

Layer records and reconstruction methods