Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands

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The Ionian Islands
Ixołe Jonie (
Venetian Republic.
CapitalCorfu
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Fourth Crusade
1202–1204
• Established1
1363
1463–1479
1499–1503
1718
1792– 1797
• Treaty of Campo Formio
17 October 1797
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)
Today part ofGreece
1 Each island became part of the Venetian empire in different dates. 1363 refers to Cythera and Anticythera.
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The

Napoleon Bonaparte dissolved the Republic of Venice in 1797. The Ionian Islands are situated in the Ionian Sea, off the west coast of Greece. Cythera, the southernmost, is just off the southern tip of the Peloponnese and Corfu, the northernmost, is located at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. It is believed that the Venetian period on the Ionian Islands was generally prosperous, especially compared with the coinciding Tourkokratia — Turkish rule over the remainder of present-day Greece.[1]

The governor of the Ionian Islands during the Venetian period was the

Provveditore generale da Mar, who resided on Corfu. Additionally, each island's authorities were divided into the Venetian and the domestic authorities. The economy of the islands was based on exporting local goods, primarily raisins, olive oil and wine, whereas Venetian lira
, the currency of Venice, was also the currency of the islands. Some features of the culture of Venice were incorporated in the culture of the Ionian Islands, thus influencing to this day local music, cuisine and language.

Relations between Venice and Byzantium

View of Venice in 1565

Venice was founded in 421 after the destruction of nearby communities by the

Byzantine–Venetian Treaty of 1082
.

The

King of Sicily, began forming closer relations with Byzantium.[13] Venice had been bound by an alliance with Charles against Byzantium in 1281.[13]

Appellation

A c. 1690 Venetian map of Isola di Corfu : posseduta dalla Serenissima Republica di Venetia. The map shows the fortresses of Corfu surrounded by wreaths and ribbons. Angelokastro is indicated as "Castello S. Angelo" in a ribbon below the top right wreath of the map.

The Islands were referred to, both individually and collectively, by various names. After Venice

captured Cephalonia on 24 December 1500, the administration of the defense of all the islands was delegated to an official seated in Corfu. This official was being referred to as "the General Provveditore of the Three Islands" (Provveditore Generale delle Tre Isole) and resided at the fortress of Angelokastro from 1387 to the end of the 16th century.[14] The Three Islands refer to Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia.[14] The Venetian equivalent for "Ionian Islands" is Ixołe Jonie, the Italian being Isole Ionie and the Greek Ιόνια Νησιά in Modern Greek and Ἰόνιοι Νῆσοι in Katharevousa
.

Below are the seven principal islands from north to south, including their Greek and Italian names in parentheses:

Cythera and Lefkada were additionally called Çuha Adası or Çuka Adası and Ayamavra respectively by the Ottomans.[19][20]

History

Roman and Byzantine period

During the Roman Empire, the Ionian Islands were variously part of the

County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos under William's Greek admiral Margaritus of Brindisi.[24][25]

Count Palatine Dynasties of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
  • Arms of the House of Anjou-Durazzo
    Arms of the House of Anjou-Durazzo
  • Arms of the Tocco family, the last rulers of the County
    Arms of the Tocco family, the last rulers of the County

The Frankokratia

Following the Fourth Crusade and the signature of the

Manfred of Sicily, who put his admiral Philippe Chinard there in charge of his eastern possessions. Nonetheless, with the defeat of Manfred at Benevento and the signature of the Treaty of Viterbo on 27 May 1267, Corfu became a possession of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples.[28] Meanwhile, the rest of the islands continued to form part of the County palatine,[29][30] which throughout its existence was governed by three families: the Orsini (whose relation to the Roman Orsini family is unattested[31]), the House of Anjou and the Tocco family.[32] The rule of the family of Tocco lasted for 122 years, up until 1479, when Ottomans captured Cephalonia, Zante, Lefkada and Ithaca.[32]

The Venetian conquest

On 13 February 1386 Corfu became once more a Venetian possession and this time Venetian rule would last until the end of the Republic.[33] This was accomplished voluntarily by the people of Corfu.[34] On 10 May, the Corfiotes appointed five ambassadors to submit to the Venetian senate.[33] The Ottomans made several attempts to capture Corfu, the first of which was in 1537.[35] This attack led Venice to an alliance with the Pope and Emperor Charles V, known as the Holy League, against the Ottoman Empire.[36] Another major unsuccessful Ottoman attack was that of July 1716.[37]

Venetian possessions in the Ionian Sea area

After the partition of the Byzantine Empire in 1204, Cythera fell into Venetian hands in 1238 through the marriage of Marco Venier with the daughter of the Greek lord of the island.[38] Cythera and Anticythera constituted part of the Stato da Màr for the first time in 1363 followed by an interruption of a three-year Turkish rule, between 1715 and 1718.[39] With the Treaty of Passarowitz Cythera and Anticythera passed to the Venetian Republic and remained under its control until its fall, in 1797.[40]

The Turkish rule in the three islands of Cephalonia, Zante and Ithaca was short-lived. In 1481, two years after the beginning of the Turkish rule, Antonio Tocco invaded and briefly occupied Cephalonia and Zante but he was soon driven out by the Venetians.

Siege of the Castle of St. George.[43][44] Finally, Ithaca, following the fate of Cephalonia, was conquered by Venice in 1503.[45]

Ithaca had become depopulated and rewilded during the period of Turkish rule. In 1504, the Venetians ordered official the repopulation of Ithaca with tax incentives to attract settlers from neighbouring islands.

Galatis family, who laid claim to it as their property, having received rights over Ithaca under the Tocco regime.[46]

However, according to historians, the island received a great population revival in the period before and after the fall of Khandaka (Heraclion) when numerous people from Crete arrived there as well as the noble Karavia family, a branch of the ancient Kallergi family. This family and its followers inhabited settlements on the island, received fiefs from the Venetian Senate and indulged in a tremendously profitable maritime trade as well as piracy against the Ottomans. According to the French traveler Leake during the 18th century the families of Karavia (Latin: Caravia), Petalas and Dendrinos constituted the three main factions of the island, with the Karavia family controlling its most productive part.[47]

Lefkada, part of the Despotate of Epirus since the latter's foundation in 1205, was incorporated by Leonardo I Tocco into the County of Cephalonia in 1362.[48] The Despotate of Epirus was one of the three Byzantine Empires in exile created after the Fourth Crusade in 1204.[49] Following the fate of the other central Ionian Islands, it was captured by the Turks in 1479 and then by the Venetians in 1502.[32][50] However, Venetian rule did not last, as Lefkada was given back to the Ottoman Empire one year later.[51] Turkish rule over Lefkada lasted for over 200 years, from 1479 to 1684, when Francesco Morosini attacked and subdued the island during the Morean War.[52] Lefkada, however, did not become officially Venetian until 1718, with the signature of the Treaty of Passarowitz.[53]

Dissolution of the Republic and aftermath

Further information: Fall of the Republic of Venice
Political map of Italy in the year 1789, showing the Ionian islands of the Republic of Venice in detail

Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, the seven islands were given back to France by Russia.[64] In October 1809, the United Kingdom took possession of all the islands with the exception of Corfu and Paxos, which was only surrendered in 1814.[65][66] In 1815, the Ionian Islands became a British protectorate under the name United States of the Ionian Islands.[63]

Administration

Oil painting of a standing man in red costume draped with a golden cloak
Portrait of Carlo Aurelio Widmann, last Venetian governor of the Ionian islands

The civil and military governor of the Ionian Islands was the

War of Candia (1645–1669) and the Morean War (1684–1699)—the office acquired a more permanent nature, and was renamed to Provveditore generale delle Quattro Isole after the capture of Santa Maura in 1684.[67][68]

Authorities in the islands were divided into two types: the Venetian ones, occupied by Venetians and represented the sovereign state and its political and military power over the Islands, and the domestic authorities, which were appointed by the Communal Council (Consiglio della Comunità).[69] The Venetians were appointed by the Great Council of Venice. There were three officials constituting the reggimento ("regime") of each island.[70] The head of the reggimento had the title of provveditore in all the islands except for Corfu, where he was called bailo.[71] The title could only be held by a nobleman.[72] The subordinate Venetian officials were the consiglieri, two on each island, who performed administrative and judicial functions along with the provveditore of each island.[73] The provveditore's responsibilities also included security from hostile raids, taxation, religious and other issues.[74]

In Corfu the Venetian officials included a bailo, a provveditore and a capitano, two consiglieri, a capitano della cittadella and a castellano della fortezza. In Cephalonia and Zante there were only one provveditore and two consiglieri.[75] When Lefkada (Santa Maura) was incorporated a Provveditore was appointed, while the archives also record the occasional appointment of a Provveditore straordinario,[76] although, in 1595, another provveditore was appointed to the Fortress of Asso.[77] In Cythera the reggimento included both a provveditore and a castellano.[78] In imitation of the metropolis, the domestic authorities comprised both a Consiglio Maggiore and a Consiglio Minore composed of members of the local aristocracy.[72]

There were ten fortresses throughout the islands, with one on each island serving as its capital.

Asso (Fortezza d'Asso) in the northern part.[77][79]

Economy

Two-solidi coin minted in the Ionian Islands

The Ionian economy during the Venetian period was largely based on exporting local products.

olive trees were planted throughout the islands during the Venetian period as olive oil was important to Venice's economy.[84] Although the production of it was successful, the Republic only allowed exportation to Venice.[84] Statistics for the years 1766–70 indicate 1,905,917 olive trees on Corfu, 113,161 on Zante, 38,516 on Cephalonia, 44,146 on Lefkada and 31,884 on Cythera.[85]

Nevertheless, raisin exports were the most important export of the islands during the Venetian rule. By the early 18th century Zante, Cephalonia, and part of Ithaca had become a major centre of the currant trade.[86] Because of the fierce competition in the raisin trade between Venice and the United Kingdom, Venice prohibited the free export of raisins from the islands.[87] Another measure was the nuova imposta, a heavy export tax for foreign ships.[88]

The currency of the islands during Venetian rule was the Venetian lira, as in Venice.[89] There was a special issue for the Islands; the obverse side of it has the complete or shortened inscription CORFU/CEFALONIA/ZANTE in three lines. The reserve depicts the winged and haloed lion of Saint Marc in a front view, holding the book of the Gospel in his fore-paws.[90] The Ionian Islands formed part of the Venetian maritime trade route to the Orient.[91]

Demographics

When the central Ionian Islands were captured by Venice their population was very low and Ithaca was completely uninhabited.

Terraferma (later called Corfiot Italians[93]) and Orthodox Greeks from the Stato da Màr were transferred to the islands as part of the colonisation.[94] The population eventually increased: in 1765–66 it had reached 111,439; in 1780, the population was 150,908.[95] Fourteen years later, there were 155,770 inhabitants throughout the islands.[95]

These are some figures concerning the population of each island during the Venetian period:[96]

Island 1470 1500 1528 1532 1568 1583 1675 1684 1760 1766
Corfu
 14,246 19,221 20,000 44,333
Paxos
 4,150
Lefkada 9,000 12,000 11,760
Ithaca 300 2,500
Cephalonia 14,000 25,543 21,659
Zante
 17,255 14,054 25,000 25,325
Cythera 500 6,000 6,183

Language and education

During the Venetian period all public acts were drawn up in the

better source needed] People belonging to the upper classes were more likely to be educated and to have studied at an Italian university, usually the University of Padua.[104][105] Modelled after the academies operating at that time in Venice, the first literary academy, Accademia degli Assicurati, was founded in Corfu in 1656 by individuals.[106] It had as an emblem two rocks beneath a winged lion, with an inscription His Semper hovering in the air.[106]

Religion

The Catholic Cathedral of Corfu

Venetians, being Catholics, retained the privileges enjoyed by the

Papacy.[107] Mixed marriages between Catholic and Orthodox Christians were allowed.[108] These two were the main factors in the decline of Roman Catholicism in the Islands.[108][110]

Jews were also a native religious group to the Islands during the Venetian period. They were even fewer in number than the Catholics; in 1797 the number of Jews in Corfu appears to have been only two thousand.[111] Jewish presence in Corfu can be traced since the times of the Principality of Taranto.[112] In Cephalonia, there is evidence of Jewish habitation in the old capital, the Castle of St. George, since the early 17th century.[113] When the capital of the island was transferred to Argostoli the Jews resettled there.[114]

Social structure

The social structure of the islands followed that of Venice. The whole population was divided into three classes: the

common people (populari).[115]

Legacy

The Emblem of the Septinsular Republic, based on the Flag of Venice

Across formerly Venetian-owned Greek territory, particularly the Ionian Islands, the memory of the Republic lives on in the social consciousness of the local population with a sentiment of nostalgia despite its troubled history.

Catholicism as their denomination, about 1.8% of the total population (254,494). At the same time, 2,541 Ionians (1.0%) gave Italian as their mother tongue, making it the second most frequent language by number of speakers.[121] The Italian language remains popular on the islands. The Hellenic Union of Heptanesians, a civil non-profit organization working to promote Septinsular culture, objected to the Ministry's decision to abolish the teaching of Italian in schools, arguing that students had a "right to be taught the language they wish, and especially Italian" as "the preferred language in the Ionian Islands and beyond". They defend its place on the regional curriculum as "a tradition" and deem it "necessary (…) owing to the scale of Italian tourism as well as other, e.g. cultural and commercial ties with the country".[122]

These cultural remnants of the Venetian period were the pretext of

Italian province through a de facto annexation, but the Germans would not approve it.[129] The Italian authorities nevertheless continued to prepare the ground for the annexation.[129] Finally, on 22 April 1941, after discussions between the German and Italian rulers, German Führer Adolf Hitler agreed that Italy could proceed with a de facto annexation of the islands.[130][131] From then on, until the end of the war, the islands passed through a phase of Italianization in all areas, from their administration to their economy.[132]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Tsitselis, p. 529.
  2. ^ Thiriet, p. 32.
  3. ^ Mauskopf Deliyannis, p. 278.
  4. ^ Grafton, Most & Settis, p. 806.
  5. ^ Lane, p. 4.
  6. ^ a b Lane, p. 5.
  7. ^ Luttwak, p. 151.
  8. ^ Nicol, p. 16.
  9. ^ Laiou, p. 154.
  10. ^ a b Nicol, p. 66.
  11. ^ Nicol, p. 254.
  12. ^ Novoselova, p. 547.
  13. ^ a b Novoselova, p. 599.
  14. ^ a b Archivio di Stato di Venezia, p. 5.
  15. ^ a b c d Fréchet, Meghraoui & Stucchi, p. 44.
  16. ^ Smyth, p. 53.
  17. ^ Soreide, p. 48.
  18. ^ Macmillan, p. 84.
  19. ^ Davies & Davis, p. 37.
  20. ^ Archivum ottomanicum, p. 240.
  21. ^ Kazhdan, p. 1007.
  22. ^ Zakythinos, p. 529.
  23. ^ Soustal & Koder, p. 56–57, 176.
  24. ^ Kazhdan, p. 1123.
  25. ^ Soustal & Koder, p. 58, 176.
  26. ^ Herrin & Saint-Guillain, p. 82.
  27. ^ Miller, p. 88.
  28. ^ Nicol, p. 401–402.
  29. ^ Tsitselis, p. 400.
  30. ^ Mercati, p. 17-18.
  31. ^ Andreas Kiesewetter, Preludio alla Quarta Crociata? Megareites di Brindisi, Maio di Cefalonia e la signoria sulle isole ionie (1185-1250), in Gherardo Ortalli, Giorgio Ravegnani, Peter Schreiner, Quarta Crociata. Venezia - Bisanzio - Impero latino, Venice, 2006, p.340–42
  32. ^ a b c Haberstumpf, p. 57–70.
  33. ^ a b Durrell, p. 95.
  34. ^ Durrell, p. 160.
  35. ^ Black, p. 56.
  36. ^ Isom-Verhaaren, p. 40.
  37. ^ A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730, p. 210.
  38. ^ Angold 2011, p. 60.
  39. ^ Maltezou, p. 33.
  40. ^ Miller, p. 633–638.
  41. ^ Babinger, p. 384.
  42. ^ Ward, p. 26.
  43. ^ a b McCabe, Harlaftis & Minoglou, p. 98.
  44. ^ a b Setton, p. 515.
  45. ^ Scammell, p. 119.
  46. ^ a b Zapanti, Stamatoula (1998). "Η Ιθάκη στα πρώτα χρόνια τησ Βενετοκρατίας (1500-1571)". Κεφαλληνιακά Χρονικά. 7: 129–133.
  47. ISBN 978-1-4021-6770-6
    .
  48. ^ Heurtley, p. 57.
  49. ^ Nicol, p. 4.
  50. ^ De Roo, p. 56.
  51. ^ Miller, p. 570–571.
  52. ^ Heurtley, p. 65.
  53. ^ Foreign Office of Great Britain, p. 353.
  54. ^ Alison, p. 283.
  55. ^ Jervis-White-Jervis, p. 159.
  56. ^ Schroeder, p. 171.
  57. ^ Alison, p. 308.
  58. ^ Rodger, p. 88.
  59. ^ a b Rulhière, p. 1.
  60. ^ Rulhière, p. 2.
  61. ^ Schroeder, p. 182.
  62. ^ Pratt, p. 81.
  63. ^ a b The Quarterly review, p. 118.
  64. ^ Xenos, p. 224.
  65. ^ Fleming, p. 114.
  66. ^ Roberts, p. 306.
  67. ^ a b Da Mosto 1940, p. 19.
  68. ^ a b Arbel 2013, p. 152.
  69. ^ Miller, p. 604.
  70. ^ Dudan, p. 166.
  71. ^ Lunzi, p. 251.
  72. ^ a b Zorzi, p. 136.
  73. ^ Saint-Sauveur, p. 56–63.
  74. ^ Lunzi, p. 102, 150.
  75. ^ Da Mosto 1940, pp. 19–20.
  76. ^ Da Mosto 1940, p. 20.
  77. ^ a b c d Fréchet, Meghraoui & Stucchi, p. 46.
  78. ^ Da Mosto 1940, p. 21.
  79. ^ Fortress of Cefalonia
  80. ^ McCabe, Harlaftis & Minoglou, p. 101.
  81. ^ Thiriet, p. 174–189.
  82. ^ Partsch, p. 97–98.
  83. ^ Rulhière, p. 5.
  84. ^ a b The Portfolio, p. 112.
  85. ^ Miller, p. 614.
  86. ^ Christensen, p. 40.
  87. ^ Fusaro, p. 161-168.
  88. ^ Ortalli, p. 205.
  89. ^ Lampros, p. 11.
  90. ^ Lampros, p. 12.
  91. ^ Clayton, p. 19.
  92. ^ Sathas, p. 155.
  93. ^ History of the Corfiot Italians
  94. ^ Konomos, p. 9
  95. ^ a b Kosmatou, p. 611.
  96. ^ Paparrigopoulos, p. 213.
  97. ^ Brewster, p. 396.
  98. ^ FitzMaurice, p. 39.
  99. ^ Miller, p. 613.
  100. ^ Saint-Sauveur, p. 189–190.
  101. ^ Lunzi, p. 496.
  102. ^ Lane, p. 313.
  103. ^ Davy, p. 31. Chapter 1 Historical Notices on the Ionian Islands and Malta by John Davy: "No people or government better understood the value of the old adage, that knowledge is power, than the Venetians; and the method they pursued to retain the Ionians in ignorance, was strictly in conformity with the rest of their policy"
  104. ^ Lunzi, p. 248.
  105. ^ Augliera, p. 83–84.
  106. ^ a b Lunzi, p. 448.
  107. ^ a b Miller, p. 208.
  108. ^ a b c Miller, p. 209.
  109. ^ a b Clogg, p. 26.
  110. ^ Young, p. 96.
  111. ^ FitzMaurice, p. 52.
  112. ^ FitzMaurice, p. 47.
  113. ^ Chasiotes, p. 97.
  114. ^ FitzMaurice, p. 53.
  115. ^ Bires & Kardamitse-Adame, p. 32.
  116. ^ Zorzi, p. 229. "In the ancient Venetian kingdoms, above all in the Ionian Islands, the memory of the Republic is deeply rooted in the population, who recall it with a shade of nostalgia even after so much time and so many events."
  117. ^ Vaudoncourt & Walton, p. 409.
  118. ^ Smyth, p. 52.
  119. ^ Le tre costituzioni (1800, 1803, 1817) delle Sette Isole Jonie, p. 191.
  120. ^ a b The Quarterly journal of education, p. 83.
  121. ^ 1907 Census of the Kingdom of Greece 387 pages
  122. ^ Press Release for the abolition of the Italian language - Hellenic Union of Heptanesians, 1-8-2011
  123. ^ Rodogno, p. 72.
  124. ^ Rodogno, p. 84.
  125. ^ Knox, p. 140.
  126. ^ Hoyt, p. 190.
  127. ^ Schreiber, Stegemann & Voge, p. 410.
  128. ^ Wever, Goethem & Wouters, p. 250.
  129. ^ a b Rodogno, p. 85.
  130. ^ Corvaja & Miller, p. 170.
  131. ^ Rodogno, p. 104.
  132. ^ Rodogno, p. 258.

Bibliography

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