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See also:CORSICA (Fr. See also:Corse) , a large See also:island of the Mediterranean, forming a See also:department of See also:France . It is situated immediately to the See also:north of See also:Sardinia (from which it is separated by the narrow strait of See also:Bonifacio), between 410 21' and 430 N. and 8° 30' and 90 30' E . See also:Area, 3367 sq.m . Pop . (1906) 291,160 . See also:Corsica lies within 54 M . W. of the See also:coast of See also:Tuscany, 98 m . S. of See also:Genoa and io6 m . S.E. of the See also:French coast at See also:Nice . The extreme length of the island is 114 M. and its breadth 52 M . The greater See also:part of the See also:surface of Corsica is occupied by See also:forest-clad mountains, whose central See also:ridge describes a See also:curve from N.W. to S.W., presenting its convexity towards the E . Secondary chains diverge in all directions from this See also:main range, enclosing small basins both geographically and socially isolated; on the See also:west and.See also:south of the island they either terminate abruptly on the See also:shore or run out to a See also:great distance into the See also:sea, forming picturesque bays and gulfs, some of which afford excellent harbours . The highest peaks are the Monts Cinto (8881 ft.), Rotondo (8612), Paglia Orba (8284), Padro (7851) and d'Oro (7845) . On the eastern See also:side of the island, between See also:Bastia and See also:Porto Vecchio, there intervenes between the mountains and the sea a considerable See also:tract of See also:low and unhealthy, but fertile See also:country, and the coast is fringed in places by lagoons . See also:Geology.—Corsica may be divided into two parts, which are geologically distinct, by a See also:line See also:drawn from Belgodere through See also:Corte to the See also:east coast near Favone . West of this line the island is composed chiefly of See also:granite, with a large See also:mass of granophyres, See also:quartz porphyries and similar rocks forming the high mountains around Mt . Cinto; but between the Gulfs of Porto and Galeria, See also:schists, limestones and See also:anthracite, containing fossils of Upper Carboniferous See also:age, occur . The famous orbicular See also:diorite of Corsica is found near Sta . See also:Lucia-di-Tallano in the See also:arrondissement of Sartene . In the eastern part of the island the predominant rocks are schists of unknown age, with intrusive masses of See also:serpentine and euphotide . Folded amongst the schists are strips of Upper Carboniferous beds similar to those of the west coast . Overlying these more See also:ancient rocks are limestones with See also:Rhaetic and Liassic fossils, occurring in small patches at Oletta, Morosaglia, &c . Nummulitic See also:limestone of See also:Eocene age is found near St Florent, and occupies several large basins near the boundary between the granite and the schist . See also:Miocene molasse with Clypeaster, &c., forms the See also:plain of Aleria on the east coast, and occurs also at St Florent in the north and Bonifacio in the south . A small patch of See also:Pliocene has been found near Aleria . The caves of Corsica, especially in the neighbourhood of Bastia, contain numerous mammalian remains, the commonest of which belong to Lagomys corsicanus, Cuv . See Hollande, " Geologie de la See also:Corse," See also:Ann. sci. geol., vol. ix . (1877); Nentien, " Etudes sur See also:les gites mineraux de la Corse," Ann . Mines See also:Paris, See also:ser . 9, vol. xii. pp . 231-296, pl . V . (1897) . Corsica is well watered by See also:rivers and torrents, which, though See also:short in their course, bring down large volumes of See also:water from the mountains . The longest is the Golo, which rises in the See also:pastoral region of Niolo, isolated among the mountains to the west of Corte and inhabited by a distinct See also:population of obscure origin . It enters the sea on the east coast to the south of the See also:salt-water See also:lake of Biguglia; farther south, on the same side of the island, is the Tavignano, while on the west there are the Liamone, the Gravone and the Taravo .
The other streams are all comparatively small
.
Owing to the rugged and indented outline of the western coast there are an unusual number of bays and harbours
.
Of the bays the most important are199'
Porto, Sagone, See also:Ajaccio and Valinco; of the ports, St Florent (See also:San Fiorenzo), Ile Rousse (Isola Rossa), See also:Calvi, Ajaccio and Propriano
.
On the eastern side, which is much less rugged and broken, the only harbours See also:worth mentioning are those of Bastia and Porto Vecchio (the See also:Portus Syracusanus of the ancients), and the only gulfs those of Porto Vecchio and See also:Santa Manza
.
At the extreme south are the See also:harbour and See also:town .of Bonifacio, giving name to the strait which separates Corsica from Sardinia
.
The See also:climate of the island ranges from warmth in the low-lands to extreme rigour in the mountains
.
The intermediate region is the most temperate and healthy
.
The mean See also:annual temperature at Ajaccio is 63° F
.
The dominant winds are those from the south-west and south-east
.
There are mines of anthracite, See also:antimony and See also:copper; the island produces granite, See also:building See also: The cultivation of cereals, despite the fertility of the See also:soil, is neglected; See also:wheat is grown to some extent, but in this respect, the population is dependent to a large degree on outside supplies . The culture of See also:fruit, especially of the See also:vine, cedrates, citrons and See also:olives (for which the Balagne region, in the north-west, is noted), of vegetables and of See also:tobacco, and See also:sheep and See also:goat rearing are the main rural See also:industries, to which may be added the rearing of See also:silk-See also:worms . The exploitation of the See also:fine forests, which contain the well-known Corsican See also:pine, beeches, oaks and chestnuts, is also an important resource, but tends to proceed too rapidly . Chestnuts are exported, and, ground into See also:flour, are used as See also:food by the mountaineers . Most of the inhabitants are proprietors of See also:land, but often the properties are so split up that many See also:hours, or even a whole See also:day, are spent in going from the vineyard or See also:olive See also:plantation to the arable land in the plain or the See also:chestnut-See also:wood in the See also:mountain . A great part of the agricultural labour is performed by labourers from Tuscany and See also:Lucca, who periodically visit the island for that purpose . Sheep of a See also:peculiar breed, resembling See also:chamois and known as mouflons, inhabit the more inaccessible parts of the mountains . The uncultivated districts are generally overgrown with a thick tangled underwood, consisting of arbutus, See also:myrtle, See also:thorn, See also:laurel See also:broom and other fragrant shrubs, and known as the maquis, the fragrance of which can be distinguished even from the sea . Fishing and See also:shooting are allowed almost everywhere to the possessor of a See also:government See also:licence; See also:special permission, where it is necessary, is easily obtained . See also:Wild boars, stags, in the eastern districts, and See also:hares as well as the See also:mouflon are found, while partridges, See also:quail, See also:woodcock, wild See also:duck and water-See also:fowl are abundant . See also:Trout and eels are the See also:chief See also:fish . The flesh of the Corsican See also:blackbird is considered a delicacy . The See also:fisheries of See also:tunny, See also:pilchard and See also:anchovy are extensively prosecuted for the See also:supply of the See also:Italian markets; but comparatively few of the natives are engaged in this See also:industry . The Corsican is See also:simple and sober but unenterprising; dignified and proud, he is possessed of a native See also:courtesy, manifested in his hospitality to strangers, the refusal of which is much resented . He is, however, implacable towards his own countrymen when his enmity is once aroused, and the practice of the See also:blood-See also:feud or See also:vendetta has not died out . Each individual is attached to some powerful See also:family, and the See also:influence of this usage is specially marked in politics, the individual voting with his See also:clan on See also:pain of arousing the vindictiveness of his See also:fellow-members . Another dominant See also:factor in social See also:life in Corsica is the almost universal ambition on the part of the natives towards an See also:official career, a tendency from which See also:commerce and agriculture inevitably suffer . The manufactures of the island are of small importance . They include the extraction of gallic See also:acid from chestnut-bark, the preparation of preserved citrons and other delicacies, and of See also:macaroni and similar foods and the manufacture of See also:fancy goods and cigars . The chief ports are Bastia, Ajaccio and Ile Rousse . A railway runs from Bastia to Ajaccio with branches to Calvi and Ghisonaccia, but, in See also:general, lack of means of communication as well as of capital are a barrier to commercial activity . In 1905 imports reached a value of £113,000 . The chief were tobacco, See also:furniture and wooden goods, See also:wine, cereals, See also:coal, See also:cheese and See also:bran . Exports were valued at £336,000, and included chestnut-See also:extract, See also:charcoal, See also:timber, citrons and other fruits, seeds, casks, skins, chestnuts and tanning bark .
Corsica is divided into five arrondissements (chief towns—Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, Corte and Sartene), with 62 cantons and 364 communes
.
It forms part of the See also:academic (educational circumscription) and archiepiscopal See also:province of See also:Aix (Bouches-du-See also:Rhone) and of the region of the XV. See also:army See also:corps
.
The See also:principal towns are Ajaccio, the capital and the seat of the See also:bishop of the island and of the See also:prefect; Bastia, the seat of the See also:court of See also:appeal and of the military See also:commander; Calvi, Corte and Bonifacio
.
Other places of See also:interest are St .Florent, near which stand the ruins of the See also:cathedral (12th See also:century) of the vanished town of Nebbio; Murato, which has a See also:
In the See also:early centuries of the See also:Christian era Corsica formed one of the senatorial provinces of the See also:Empire, but though it was in continuous commercial communication with See also:Italy, it was better known as a See also:place of banishment for See also:political offenders
.
One of the most distinguished of those was the younger See also:Seneca, who spent in See also:exile there the eight years ending A.D
.
49
.
During the break-up of the See also:Roman empire in the West the See also:possession of Corsica was for a while disputed between the See also:Vandals and the See also:Gothic See also:allies of the Roman emperors, until in 469 Genseric finally made himself See also:master of the island
.
For 65 years the Vandals maintained their domination, the Corsican forests supplying the wood for the fleets with which they terrorized the Mediterranean
.
After the destruction of the Vandal power in See also:Africa by See also:Belisarius, his See also:lieutenant See also:Cyril conquered Corsica (534) which now, under the exarchate of Africa, became part of the East Roman empire
.
The succeeding See also:period was one of great misery
.
Goths and See also:Lombards in turn ravaged the island, which in spite of the prayers of See also:Pope See also:Gregory the Great
' the See also:exarch of Africa did nothing to defend; the See also:rule of the Byzantines was effective only in grinding excessive taxes out of the wretched population; and, to See also:crown all, in 713 the Mussulmans from the See also:northern coast of Africa made their first descent upon the island
.
Corsica remained nominally attached to the East Roman empire until See also:Charlemagne, having overthrown the Lombard power in Italy (774), proceeded to the See also:conquest of the island, which now passed into the hands of the See also:Franks
.
In 8o6, however, occurred the first of a See also:series of Moorish incursions from See also:Spain
.
Several times defeated by the See also:emperor's lieutenants, the See also:Moors continually returned, and in 810 gained temporary possession of the island
.
They were crushed and exterminated by an expedition under the emperor's son See also:
In 828 the See also:defence of Corsica was entrusted to See also:Boniface II., See also:count of the Tuscan See also:
Finally, in each See also:district the fathers of the commune elected a See also:magistrate who, under the name of caporale, was entrusted with the defence of the interests of the poor and weak, with seeing that justice was done to them, and that they were not made the victims of the powerful and See also:rich."
Meanwhile the south remained under the sway of the counts of Cinarca, while in the north feudal barons maintained their See also:independence in the promontory of Cape Corso
.
See also:Internal feuds continued; See also:
Papal sovereignty
.
the Vandals as an inexhaustible storehouse of materials Pisa
commerce of both republics—actually gained a footing in the country
.
For twenty years the Pisans fought to recover the fortress for themselves, until in 1217 the pope settled the See also:matter by taking it into his own hands
.
Throughout the 13th century the struggle between Pisans and Genoese continued, reproducing in the island the feud of Ghibellines and Guelphs that was desolating Italy
.
In order to put a stop to the ruinous anarchy the chiefs of the Terra di Comune called in the marquis See also:Isnard Malaspina; the Pisans set up the count of Cinarca once more; and the war between the marquis, the Pisans and Genoese dragged on with varying fortunes, neither succeeding in gaining the mastery
.
Then, in 1298, Pope Boniface VIII. added to the complication by investing King See also:
The republic, busied with other affairs, See also:hit upon the luckless expedient of investing with the governorship of the island a :sort of chartered See also:company, consisting of five persons, known as the See also:Manna
.
They attempted to restore order by taking Arrigo della Rocca into See also:partnership, with disastrous results
.
In 1380 four of the " governors of the Maona " resigned their rights to the Genoese republic, and Leonello Lomellino was See also:left as See also:sole See also:governor
.
It was he who, in 1383, built Bastia on the north coast, which became the See also:bulwark of the Genoese power in the island
.
It was not till 1401, after the death of Count Arrigo, that the Genoese domination was temporarily re-established
.
Meanwhile Genoa itself had fallen into the hands of the French, and in 1407 Leonello Lomellino returned as governor with the See also:title of count of Corsica bestowed on him by Charles VI. of France
.
But Vincentello d' See also:Istria, who had gained distinction in the service of the king of Aragon, had captured Cinarca, rallied See also:round him all the communes of the Terra di Comune, proclaimed him-self count of Corsica at Biguglia and even seized Bastia
.
Lomellino was unable to make headway against him, and by 1410 all Corsica, with the exception of Bonifacio and Calvi, was lost to Genoa, now once more See also:independent of France
.
A feud of Vincentello with the bishop of Mariana, however, led to the loss of his authority in the Terra di Comune; he was compelled to go to Spain in See also:search of assistance, and in his See also:absence the Genoese reconquered the island
.
Not, however, for long
.
The Great See also:Schism was too obvious an opportunity for quarrelling for the Corsicans to neglect; and the Corsican bishops and clergy were more ready with the carnal than with spiritual weapons
.
The suffragans of Genoa fought for See also:Benedict XIII., those of Pisa for See also: He easily captured Cinarca and Ajaccio, came to terms with the Pisan bishops, mastered the Terra di Comune and built a strong See also:castle at Corte; by 1419 the Genoese possessions in Corsica were again reduced to Calvi and Bonifacio . At this juncture See also:Alphonso of Aragon arrived, with a large fleet, to take possession of the island . Calvi See also:fell to him; but Bonifacio held out, and its resistance gave time for the Corsicans, aroused by the tyranny and exactions of the Aragonese, to organize revolt . In the end the See also:siege of Bonifacio was raised, and the town, confirmed in its privileges, became practically an independent republic tt°nese under Genoese See also:protection . As for Vincentello he vention., managed to hold his own for a while; but ultimately the country See also:rose against him, and in 1435 he was executed as a See also:rebel by the Genoese, who had captured him by surprise in the See also:port of Bastia . The anarchy continued, while See also:rival factions, nominal adherents of the Aragonese and Genoese, contended for the mastery . Profiting by the disturbed situation, the Genoese See also:doge, See also:Janus da Fregoso, succeeded in reducing the island, his See also:artillery securing him an easy victory over the forces of Count See also:Paolo della Rocca (1441) . To secure his authority he built and fortified the new See also:city of San Fiorenzo, near the ruins of Nebbio . But again the Aragonese intervened, and the anarchy reached its height . An appeal to Pope See also:Eugenius IV. resulted in the despatch of a pontifical army of 14,000 men (1444), which was destroyed in detail by a See also:league of some of the caporali and most of the barons under the bold leadership of Rinuccio da Leca . A second expedition was more fortunate, and Rinuccio was killed before Biguglia . In 1447 Eugenius was succeeded on the papal See also:throne by See also:Nicholas V., a Genoese, who promptly made over his rights in Corsica, with all the strong places held by his troops, to Genoa . The island was now, in effect, divided between the Genoese republic; the lords of Cinarca, who held their lands in the south under the nominal See also:suzerainty of Aragon; and Galeazzo da Campo Fregoso, who was supreme in the Terra di Comune . An assembly of the chiefs of the Terra di Comune now decided to offer the government of the island to the Company or See also:Bank of San Giorgio, a powerful commercial See also:corporation established at Genoa in the 14th century.' The bank accepted; the Spaniards were driven from the country; and , a government was organized . But the bank soon fell foul of the barons, and began a war of extermination against them . Their resistance was finally broken in 1460, when the survivors took refuge in Tuscany . But order had scarcely been established when the Genoese Tommasinoda Campo Fregoso, whose See also:mother was a Corsican, revived the claims of his family and succeeded in mastering the interior of the island (1462) . Two years later the See also:duke of See also:Milan, See also:Francesco See also:Sforza, overthrew the power of the Fregoso family at Genoa, and promptly proceeded to See also:lay claim to Corsica . His lieutenant had no difficulty in making the island accept the overlordship of the duke of Milan; but when, in 1466, Francesco Sforza died, a See also:quarrel See also:broke out, and Milanese suzerainty became purely nominal See also:save in the coast towns . Finally, in 1484, Tommasino da Campo Fregoso persuaded the duke to Milanese rant him the government of the island . The strong venHoa . places were handed over to him; he entered into See also:marriage relations with Gian Paolo da Leca, the most powerful of the barons, and was soon supreme in the island . Within three years the Corsicans were up in arms again . A descendant of the Malaspinas who had once ruled in Corsica, Jacopo IV . (d'Appiano), was now See also:prince of See also:Piombino, and to him the malcontents applied . His See also:brother Gherardo, count of Montagnano, accepted the See also:call, proclaimed himself count of Corsica, and, landing in the island, captured Biguglia and San Fiorenzo; whereupon Tommasino da Campo Fregoso discreetly sold his rights to the bank of San Giorgio .. No sooner, however, had the bank—with the assistance of the count of Leca—beaten Count Gherardo than the Fregoso family tried to repudiate their bargain . Their claims were supported by the count of Leca, and it cost the agents of the bank some hard fighting before the turbulent See also:baron was beaten and exiled to Sardinia . Twice he returned, and he was not finally expelled from the country till 1501; it was not till 1511 that the other barons were crushed and ' See " Conventions entre quelques seigneurs Corses et 1'See also:office de St Georges (1453)," in Bulletin sot. scientif . Corse (1881-1882), pp . 286, 305, 413, 501, 549 and (1883) 147; also the See also:report of the deputies sent by the bank to Pope Nicholas V. in 1453, ib. p . 141 . The bank of San Giorgio . that the bank could consider itself in secure possession of the island . If the See also:character of the Corsicans has been distinguished in See also:modern times for a certain wild intractableness and ferocity, the cause lies in their unhappy past, and not least in the character of the rule established by the bank of San Giorgio . The power which the bank had, won by ruthless See also:cruelty, it exercised in the spirit of the narrowest and most short-sighted selfishness .
Only a See also:shadow of the native institutions was suffered to survive, and no adequate system of administration was set up in the place of that which had been suppressed
.
In the absence of justice the blood-feud or vendetta See also:grew and took See also:root in Corsica just at the time when, elsewhere in See also:Europe, the progress of See also:civilization was making an end of private war
.
The agents of the bank, so far from discouraging these internecine quarrels, looked on them as the surest means for preventing a general rising
.
Concerned, moreover, only with squeezing taxes out of a recalcitrant population, they neglected the defence of the coast, along which the See also:Barbary pirates harried and looted at will; and to all these woes were added, in the 16th century, pestilences and disastrous floods, which tended still further to impoverish and barbarize the country
.
In these circumstances King See also: In 1556, indeed, the conclusion of a truce left Corsica—with the exception of Bastia—in the hands of the French, who proceeded to set up a tolerable government; but in 1559, by the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, the island was restored to the bank of San Giorgio, from which it was at once taken over by the Genoese republic . Trouble at once began again . The Genoese attempted to See also:levy a tax which the Corsicans refused to pay; in violation of the terms of the treaty, which had stipulated for a uni- versal See also:amnesty, they confiscated the See also:property of Sampiero da Bastelica . Hereupon Sampiero again put himself at the head of the national movement . The suzerainty of the Turk seemed preferable to that of Genoa, and, armed with letters from the king of France, he went to Constanti- nople to ask the aid of a fleet for the purpose of reducing Corsica to the status of an See also:Ottoman province.' All his efforts to secure See also:foreign help were, however, vain; he determined to See also:act alone, and in See also:June 1564 landed at Valinco with only fifty followers . His success was at first extraordinary, and he was soon at the head of 8000 men; but ultimate victory was rendered impossible by the indiscipline among the Corsicans and by the internecine feuds of which the Genoese well knew how to take advantage . For over two years a war was waged in which See also:quarter was given on neither side; but after the assassination of Sampiero in 1567 the spirit of the insurgents was broken . In 1568 an See also:honourable peace, including a general amnesty, was arranged with the Genoese commander Giorgio See also:Doria by Sampiero's son Alphonso 1 See also:Hammer-Purgstall, Gesch. See also:des Osmanischen Reichs (Pest, 184o), ii . 288 . d'Ornano, who with 300 of his See also:friends emigrated to Fiance, where he rose to be a See also:marshal under Henry IV . From this time until 1729 Corsica remained at peace under the government of Genoa . It was, however, a peace due to lassitude and despair rather than contentment . The See also:settlement of 1568 had reserved a large measure of See also:autonomy to the Corsicans; during the years that followed this was withdrawn piecemeal, until, disarmed and powerless, they were excluded from every office in the administration . Nor did the Genoese substitute any efficient system for that which they had destroyed . In the absence of an effective judiciary the vendetta increased; in the absence of effective protection the sea-See also:board was exposed to the ravages of the Barbary pirates, so that the coast villages and towns were abandoned and the inhabitants withdrew into the interior, leaving the most fertile part of the country to fall into the See also:condition of a malarious See also:waste . To add to all this, in 1576 the population had been decimated by a pestilence . See also:Emigration en masse continued, and an See also:attempt to remedy this by introducing a colony of Greeks in 1688 only added one more See also:element of discord to the luckless island . To the Genoese Corsica continued to be merely an area to be exploited for their profit; they monopolized its See also:trade; they taxed it up to and beyond its capacity; they made the issue of licences to carry firearms a source of See also:revenue, and studiously avoided interfering with the See also:custom of the vendetta which made their fiscal expedient so profitable ? In 1729 the Corsicans, irritated by a new See also:hearth-tax known as the due seini, rose in revolt, their leaders being See also:Andrea See also:Colonna Ceccaldi 'and See also:Luigi Giafferi . As usual, the Genoese Revolt were soon confined to a few coast towns; but the of 1729. intervention of the emperor Charles VI. and the despatch of a large force of See also:German mercenaries turned the tide of war, and in 1732 the authority of Genoa was re-established . Two years later, however, Giacinto See also:Paoli once more raised the See also:standard of revolt; and in 1735 an assembly at Corte proclaimed the independence of Corsica, set up a constitution, and entrusted the supreme leadership to Giafferi, Paoli and Ceccaldi . Though the Genoese were again driven into the fortresses, lack of arms and provisions made any decisive success of the insurgents impossible, and when, on the 12th of March 1736, the German adventurer Baron Theodor von See also:Neuhof arrived with a shipload of muskets and stores and the assurance of further help King to come, leaders and people were glad to accept his aid See also:Theodore on his own conditions, namely that he should be of acknowledged as king of Corsica . On the 15th of Corsica . See also:April, at Alesani, an assembly of clergy and of representatives of the communes, solemnly proclaimed Corsica an independent See also:kingdom under the sovereignty of Theodore "I." and his heirs . The new king's reign was not fated to last long . The See also:opera bouffe nature of his entry on the See also:stage—he was clad in a See also:scarlet See also:caftan, Turkish See also:trousers and a See also:Spanish See also:hat and See also:feather, and girt with a See also:scimitar—did not, indeed, offend the unsophisticated islanders; they were even ready to take seriously his lavish bestowal of titles and his knightly order "della Liberazione"; they appreciated his See also:personal bravery; and the fact that the Genoese government denounced him as an impostor and set a See also:price on his head could only confirm him in their See also:affection . But it was otherwise when the See also:European help that he had promised failed to arrive, and, still worse, the governments with which he had boasted his influence disclaimed him . In See also:November he thought it expedient to proceed to the See also:continent, ostensibly in search of aid, leaving Giafferi, Paoli and Luca d'Ornano as regents . In spite of several attempts, he never succeeded in returning to the island . The Corsicans, weary of the war, opened negotiations with the Genoese; but the refusal of the latter to regard the islanders as other than rebels made a mutual agreement impossible . Finally the republic decided to seek the aid of France, and in See also:July 1737 a treaty was signed by which the French king See also:bound himself to reduce the Corsicans to order . 2 Father Cancellotti, who visited every part of the island, estimated the number of murders committed in 20 years at 28,000 (quoted in the See also:article on Corsica in La Grande Encyclopedia) . Sampiero da Baste/ca . The See also:object of the French in assisting the Genoese was not the acquisition of the island for themselves so much as to obviate Inter- the danger, of which they had long been aware, of its ventlon of falling into the hands of another power, notably Great France, See also:Britain . The Corsicans, on the other hand, though 1738. ready enough to come to terms with the French king, refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of Genoa even when backed by the power of France . A powerful French force, under the See also:comte de Boissieux, arrived in the See also:spring of 1738, and for some months negotiations proceeded . But the effect of the French See also:guarantee of Corsican liberties was nullified by the demand that the islanders should surrender their arms, and the attempt of Boissieux to enforce the order for disarmament was followed, in the See also:winter of 1738-39, by his defeat at the hands of the Corsicans and by the cutting up of several isolated French detachments . In February 1739 Boissieux died . His successor, the marquis de Maillebois, arrived in March with strong reinforcements, and by a See also:combination of severity and conciliation soon reduced the island to order . Its See also:maintenance, however, depended on the presence of the French troops, and in See also:October 1740 the death of the emperor Charles VI. and the outbreak of the War of the See also:Austrian See also:Succession necessitated their withdrawal . Genoese and Corsicans were once more left See also:face to face, and the perennial struggle began anew . In 1743 " King Theodore," supported by a See also:British See also:squadron, made a descent on the island, but finding that he no longer Sardinian possessed a following, departed never to return . The and Corsicans, assembled in diet at Casinca, now elected British Giampietro Gaffori and Alerio Matra as generals and intery Bon ie- it protectors of the fatherland " (protettori della patria), 746 . and began a vigorous onslaught on the Genoese strong-holds . They were helped now by the sympathy and active aid of European See also:powers, and in 1746 Count Domenico Rivarola, a Corsican in Sardinian service, succeeded in capturing Bastia and San Fiorenzo with the aid of a British squadron and Sardinian troops . The factious spirit of the Corsicans themselves was, however, their worst enemy . The British commander judged it inexpedient to intervene in the affairs of a country of which the leaders were at loggerheads; Rivarola, left to himself, was unable to hold Bastia—a place of Genoese sympathies—and in spite of the collapse of Genoa itself, now in Austrian hands, the Genoese governor succeeded in maintaining himself in the island . By the time of the See also:signature of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, the situation of the island had again changed . Rivarola and Matra had departed, and Gaffori was left nominally supreme over a people torn by See also:intestine feuds . Genoa, too, had expelled the Austrians with French aid, and, owing to a report that the king of Sardinia was meditating a fresh attempt to conquer the island, a strong French expedition under the marquis de Cursay had, at the See also:request of the republic, occupied Calvi, Bonifacio, Ajaccio and Bastia . By the terms of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Renewed Corsica was once more assigned to Genoa, but the French French garrison remained, pending a settlement °inter- between the republic and the islanders . In view of the ventlon. intractable See also:temper of the two parties no agreement could be reached; but Cursay's personal popularity served to preserve the peace for a while . His withdrawal in 1752, however, was the See also:signal for a general rising, and once more, at a diet held at Orezza, Gaffori was elected general and See also:protector . In October of the following year, however, he fell victim to a vendetta and the nation was once more leaderless . His place was taken for a while 'by Clemente Paoli, son of Giacinto, who for a year or two succeeded, with the aid of other lieutenants of Gaffori, in holding the Genoese at See also:bay . He was, however, by temperament unfitted to See also:lead a turbulent and undisciplined people in time of stress, and in 1755, at his See also:suggestion, his brother Pasquale was invited to come from See also:Naples and assume the command . The first task of Pasquale Paoli, elected general in April at an assembly at San See also:Antonio della See also:Casabianca, was to suppress the rival See also:faction led by Emanuele Matra, son of Gaffori's former colleague . By the spring of 1756 this was done, and the Corsicans were able to turn a See also:united front against the Genoese . See also:Atthis juncture the French, alarmed by a supposed understanding between Paoli and the British, once more intervened, and occupied Calvi, Ajaccio and San Fiorenzo until 1757, when their forces were once more called away by the See also:wars on the continent . In 1758 Paoli renewed the attack on the Genoese, See also:founding the new port of Isola Rossa as a centre whence the Corsican See also:ships could attack the trading vessels of Genoa . The republic, indeed, was now too weak to attempt seriously to re-assert its sway over the island, which, with the exception of the coast towns, Paoli ruled with See also:absolute authority and with conspicuous See also:wisdom . In the intervals of fighting he was occupied in reducing Corsican anarchy into some sort of civilized order . The vendetta was put down, partly by religious influence, partly with a stern hand; the surviving oppressive rights of the feudal signori were abolished; and the traditional institutions of the Terra di Comune were made the basis of a democratic constitution for the whole island . As regarded the relations of Corsica all now depended on the attitude of France to which both Paoli and the republic made overtures . In 1764 a French expedition under the comte de Marbeuf arrived, and, by agreement with Genoa, garrisoned three of the Genoese fortresses . Though Genoese sovereignty had been expressly recognized in the agreement authorizing this, it was in effect non-existent . French and Corsicans remained on amicable terms, and the inhabitants of the nominally Genoese towns actually sent representatives to the national consulta or See also:parliament . The See also:climax came early in 1767 when the Corsicans captured the Genoese island of Capraja, and occupied Ajaccio and other places, evacuated by the French as a protest against the See also:asylum given to the See also:Jesuits exiled from France . .Genoa now recognized that she had been worsted in the long contest, and on the 15th of May 1768 signed a treaty selling the sovereignty of the island to France . The Corsicans, See also:intent on independence, were now faced with a more formidable enemy than the decrepit republic of Genoa . A See also:section of the people indeed, were in favour of submission; but Paoli himself declared for resistance; and among those who supported him at the consulta summoned to discuss the question was his secretary Carlo Buonaparte, father of See also:Napoleon See also:Bonaparte, the future emperor of the French . Into the details of the war that followed, it is impossible to enter here; in the absence of the hoped-for help from Great Britain its issue could not be doubtful; and, though the task of the French was a hard one, by the summer of 1769 they were masters of the island .
On the 16th of June Pasquale and Clemente Paoli, with some
400 of their followers, embarked on a British See also:ship for French
conquest
.
See also:Leghorn
.
On the 15th of See also:September 1770, a general
assembly of the Corsicans was summoned and the deputies swore See also:allegiance to King See also:
Paoli now openly defied the Convention by summoning the representatives of the com-
munes to meet in diet at Corte on the 27th of May
.
Revolt To the remonstrances of See also:Saliceti, who attended the
under
Paoli. See also:meeting, he replied that he was rebelling, not
against France, but against the dominant faction of whose actions the See also:majority of Frenchmen disapproved
.
Saliceti thereupon hurried to Paris, and on his motion Paoli and his sympathizers were declared by the Convention hors la loi (June 26)
.
Paoli had already made up his mind to raise the standard of revolt against France
.
But though the consulta at Corte British elected him president, Corsican See also:opinion was by no occupa- 'means united
.
Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Paoli had tion, 1794- expected to win over to his views, indignantly rejected
1796' the See also:idea of a See also:breach with France, and the Bonapartes were henceforth ranked with his enemies
.
Paoli now appealed for assistance to the British government, which despatched a considerable force
.
By the summer of 1794, after hard fighting, the island was reduced, and in June the Corsican assembly formally offered the sovereignty to King See also:George III
.
The British occupation lasted two years, the island being administered by See also:Sir See also: It was again occupied by Great Britain for a short time in 1814, but in the settlement of 1815 was restored to the French crown . Its history henceforth is part of that of France . See F . Girolami-See also:Cortona, Geographie generale de la Corse (Ajaccio, 1893) ; A . Andrei, A 'ravers la Corse (Paris, 1893) ; Forcioli-See also:Conti, Notre Corse (Ajaccio, 1897) ; R . Le Joindre, La Corse et les Gorses (Paris, 1904) ; F . 0 . Renucci, Storia di Corsica (2 vols., Bastia, 1833), fervidly Corsican, but useful; Antonio Pietro Filippini, Istoria di Corsica (1st ed., 1594; 2nd ed., corrected and illustrated with unpublished documents by G . C . Gregori, 5 vols., Pisa, 1827–1832) ; J . M . Jacobi, Hist. gen. de la Corse, 2 vols., Paris, 1833–1835), with many unpublished documents; L . H . See also:Caird, History of Corsica (See also:London, 1899) . Further See also:works and references to articles in reviews, &c., are given in Ulysse See also:Chevalier's Repertoire des See also:sources, &c., Topo-bibliographie, t. ii. s.v . |
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