Corcyre
Corcyre
French department (1797–1802)
Corcyre (French: [kɔʁ.kiʁ]; archaic French for "Corfu"; Greek: Κέρκυρα, romanized: Kerkyra) was one of three short-lived French departments of Greece.
Department of Corcyre Département de Corcyre | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797–1799 | |||||||||||
The three departments of Greece | |||||||||||
| Status | Department of the French First Republic | ||||||||||
| Chef-lieu | Corfu 39.70°N 19.79°E / 39.70; 19.79 | ||||||||||
| Official languages | French | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Greek | ||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||
• Commissioners | Louis Chicoilet de Corbigny Jean Briche | ||||||||||
| Historical era | French Revolutionary Wars | ||||||||||
| 18 October 1798 | |||||||||||
• Establishment | 7 November 1797 | ||||||||||
| 3 March 1799 | |||||||||||
| 25 March 1802 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||
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It came into existence after Napoleon's conquest in 1797 of the Republic of Venice, when Venetian Greek possessions such as the Ionian islands fell to the French Directory. It consisted of the islands of Kerkyra (Corfu) and Paxoi, as well as the cities of Butrint and Parga on the adjacent mainland. Its prefecture was in the City of Corfu. The island was lost to Russia after the Siege of Corfu (1798–1799) and the department was officially disbanded in 1802. Also, Butrint was captured in 1798 by Ali Pasha, ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina.
During the renewed French control in 1807–1814, the department was not re-established, the constitutional form of the former Septinsular Republic being kept.
Commissioners
The Commissioner of the Directory was the highest state representative in the department.
| Term start | Term end | Office holder |
|---|---|---|
| 18 October 1797 | ?? May 1798 | Louis Antoine Ange Chicoilet de Corbigny |
| ?? May 1798 | 3 March 1799 | Jean Briche |
- Lacroix, Louis (1853). Les Îles de la Grèce [The Islands of Greece] (in French). Firmin Didot. p. 638.
- Pauthier, G. (1863). Les Îles Ioniennes pendant l'occupation française et le protectorat anglais [The Ionian Islands during the French occupation and the British protectorate] (in French). Paris: Benjamin Duprat.
- Bellaire, J.P. (1805). Précis des opérations générales de la Division française du Levant [Precis of the general operations of the French division in the Levant] (in French). Paris: Magimel & Humbert.