Battle of Lastovo (1000)

The departure of the doge's ship on Ascension Day for the military campaign in southern Croatia

Date	1000
Location	Lastovo, Theme of Dalmatia, ceded from Byzantine Empire to Kingdom of Croatia
Result	Venetian victory

Belligerents

Republic of Venice

Kingdom of Croatia
Narentines

Commanders and leaders

Doge Pietro II Orseolo

unknown

Strength

unknown

Casualties and losses

unknown

The Battle 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 the Venice. The battle resulted in a Venetian victory and Lastovo became part of the Venetian Republic for a while.

After the death in 997 of Stjepan Držislav, king of Croatia and 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 Western Bulgarian (Macedonian) 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 Romance, the majority welcomed the Venetian ruler, but some of them did not. Particularly, the island of Lastovo fiercely resisted the Venetian incursion.

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.

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