Corcyre

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
Flag
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
• Treaty of Campo Formio	17 October 1797
• Establishment	7 November 1797
• Fall of Butrint	25 October 1798
• Fall of Corfu	3 March 1799
• Official disbandment	25 March 1802
Preceded by Succeeded by Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands Septinsular Republic Pashalik of Yanina
Today part of	Albania Greece

History

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.

Administration

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

See also

• Department of Mer-Égée
• Department of Ithaque
• French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)
• Treaty of Campo Formio

References

• 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.