ribute. Tribute previously paid by Zadar to Croatian kings, was redirected to Venice, a state of affairs which lasted for several years..
Zadar citizens started to work for the full independence of Zadar and from the 30's of the 11th century the city was just formally a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. The head of this movement was the mightiest Zadar patrician family - the Madi. After negotiations with Byzantium, Zadar was attached to the Croatian state led by king Petar Kre�imir IV in 1069. Later, after the death of king Dmitar Zvonimir in 1089 and ensuing dynastic run-ins, in 1105 Zadar accepted the rule of the first Croato-Hungarian king Coloman.
In the meantime Venice developed into a true trading force in the Adriatic and started attacks on Zadar. The city was repeatedly invaded by Venice between 1111 and 1154 and then once more between 1160 and 1183, when it finally rebelled, appealing to the Pope and to the Croato-Hungarian throne for protection.
Zadar was especially devastated in 1202 after the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo used the Crusaders, on their Fourth Crusade to Palestine, to lay siege to the city. The 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 initiate the Siege of Zadar, when the city was ransacked, demolished and robbed. Emeric, king of Croatia and Hungary, condemned the crusade, because of an argument about the possible heresy committed by 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 excommunicated the Venetians and crusaders involved in the siege.
Two years later (1204), under the leadership of the Croatian nobleman Domald from �ibenik, most of the refugees returned and liberated the city from what remained of the crusader force. In 1204 Domald was comes (duke) of Zadar, but the following year (1205)
