Europe · Reformation to revolution
Corsican Republic
1755–1769
Corsica had been ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284. Corsican revolt against Genoa began in 1729 (with the ephemeral Kingdom of Corsica under the adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff in 1736).
- Existed
- 1755–1769
- Shown on the map
- 1757–1768
- Peak area
- 11k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
Corsica had been ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284. Corsican revolt against Genoa began in 1729 (with the ephemeral Kingdom of Corsica under the adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff in 1736). In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807) proclaimed the independent Corsican Republic, with its capital at Corte, and drafted the Corsican Constitution (18 November 1755) — the first constitution written in the Italian language, embodying Enlightenment principles and a notably broad franchise (often credited with an early form of female suffrage). Its foundational modern study is Dorothy Carrington's "The Corsican Constitution of Pasquale Paoli (1755–1769)" (English Historical Review, July 1973); the historian Linda Colley credits it as the first written constitution of a nation-state. Paoli, elected President of the Executive Council of the General Diet, functioned as commander-in-chief and chief magistrate; he suppressed the vendetta, built a fleet, and founded a university at Corte. Unable to subdue the island, Genoa secretly ceded Corsica to France (1768). France conquered the republic, defeating Paoli decisively at Ponte Novu (May 1769); Corsica became a French province. (Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio in 1769.)
Common questions
- What was the Corsican Republic?
- Corsica had been ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284. Corsican revolt against Genoa began in 1729 (with the ephemeral Kingdom of Corsica under the adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff in 1736).
- When did the Corsican Republic exist?
- The Corsican Republic existed 1755–1769. On this map it is drawn 1757–1768.
- How large was the Corsican Republic?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Corsican Republic covered about 11,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, EBSCO Research Starters, the New World Encyclopedia, UNESCO, and academic works including Henry Kamen's *Spain, 1469–1714* and Shaul Stampfer's study of Khmelnytsky-era Jewish casualties. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Corsican Republic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_Republic
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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