in the year 1000, under Doge Pietro II Orseolo, Dalmatia was finally in complete control of the Venetians after many years of battle, tribute-payment, and political maneuvering in response to Dalmatian pirates.  This marked the beginning of the Venetian empire. Image: the extent of the Kingdom of Dalmatia (blue), on a map of modern-day Croatia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.