Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

IONIAN ISLANDS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 730 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

IONIAN ISLANDS , the collective name for the See also:

Greek islands of See also:Corfu, See also:Cephalonia, See also:Zante, See also:Santa Maura, See also:Ithaca, See also:Cythera (Cerigo) and Paxo, with their See also:minor dependencies. These seven islands (for details of which see their See also:separate headings) are often described also as the Heptanesus (" Seven Islands "), but they have no real See also:geographical unity. The See also:history of the name " Ionian " in this connexion is obscure, but it is probably due to See also:ancient settlements of Ionian colonists on the coasts and islands. The See also:political unity of the seven islands is of comparatively See also:modern date; their See also:independence as a separate See also:state lasted only seven years (1800–1807). To a certain extent they have passed under the same See also:succession of influences; they have been subjected to the same invasions, and have received accessions to their populations from the same currents of See also:migration or See also:conquest. But even what may be considered as See also:common experiences have affected the individual islands in different ways; in the See also:matter of See also:population, for instance, Corfu has undergone much more important modifications than Ithaca. The Ionian islands consist almost entirely of Cretaceous and See also:Tertiary beds, but in Corfu See also:Jurassic deposits belonging to various horizons have also been found. The See also:oldest beds which have yet been recognized are shales and hornstones with Liassic fossils. These are overlaid conformably by a thick See also:series of platy limestones, known as the Viglas See also:limestone, which appears to represent the See also:rest of the Jurassic See also:system and also the See also:lower See also:part of the Cretaceous. Then follows a See also:mass of See also:dolomite and unbedded limestones containing Hippurites and evidently of Upper Cretaceous See also:age. The See also:Eocene beds are folded with the Cretaceous, and in many places the two formations have not yet been separately distinguished. Both occasionally assume the See also:form of See also:Flysch.

See also:

Miocene beds are found in Corfu and Zante, and See also:Pliocene deposits See also:cover much of the See also:low-lying ground. . History.—The beginning of Heptanesian history may be said to date from the 9th See also:century. See also:Leo the Philosopher (about A.D. 890) formed all or most of the islands into a distinct See also:province under the See also:title of the Thema of Cephallenia, and in this See also:condition they belonged to the Eastern See also:empire after See also:Italy had been divided into various states, but this political or administrative unity could not last See also:long in the See also:case of islands exposed by their situation to opposite currents of conquest. See also:Robert Guiscard, having captured Corfu (1o81) and Cephalonia, might have become the founder of a See also:Norman See also:dynasty in the islands but for his See also:early See also:death at Cassopo. Amid the struggles between Greek emperors and Western crusaders during the 12th century, Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, &c., emerge from See also:time to time; but it was not till the Latin empire was established at See also:Constantinople in 1204 that the Venetians, who were destined to give the Ionian Islands their See also:place in history, obtained See also:possession of Corfu. They were afterwards robbed of the See also:island by See also:Leon Vetrano, a famous Genoese See also:corsair; but he was soon defeated and put to death, and the See also:senate, to secure their position, granted fiefs in Corfu to ten See also:noble families in See also:order that they might colonize it (1206). The conquest of Cephalonia and Zante followed, and we find five See also:counts of the See also:family of Tocco holding Cephalonia, and probably Zante as well as Santa Maura, as tributary to the See also:republic. But the footing thus gained by the Venetians was not maintained, and through the closing part of the 13th and most of the 14th century the islands were a See also:prey by turns to corsairs and to Greek and Neapolitan claimants. In 1386, however, the See also:people of Corfu made voluntary submission to the Venetian republic which had now risen to be the first maritime See also:power in the Mediterranean. In 1485 Zante was See also:purchased from the See also:Turks in a very depopulated condition; and in 1499 Cephalonia was captured from the same masters; but Santa Maura, though frequently occupied for a time, was not finally attached to See also:Venice till 1684, and Cerigo was not taken till 1717. The Venetians, who exacted heavy contributions from the islands, won the adherence of the See also:principal native families venetian by the bestowal of titles and appointments; the and See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church was established, and the See also:French See also:Italian and Greek races were largely assimilated by See also:rule• intermarriage; Greek ceased to be spoken except by the lower classes, which remained faithful to the Orthodox communion.

On the fall of the Venetian republic in 1797 the treaty of Campo Formio, which gave Venice to See also:

Austria, annexed the Ionian Islands to See also:France; but a Russo-See also:Turkish force drove out the French at the See also:close of 1798; and in the See also:spring of 1799 Corfu capitulated. By treaty with the See also:Porte in 1800, the See also:emperor See also:Paul erected the " Septinsular Republic," but anarchy and confusion followed till a See also:secret See also:article in the treaty of See also:Tilsit, in 1807, declared the Islands an integral part of the French empire. They were incorporated with the province of See also:Illyria, and in this condition they remained till the decline of the French power. The See also:British forces, under See also:General See also:Oswald, took Zante, Cephalonia and Cerigo in 1809, and Santa Maura in 181o; See also:Colonel (afterwards See also:Sir See also:Richard) Church (q.v.), reduced Paxo in 1814; and after the See also:abdication of See also:Napoleon, Corfu, which had been well defended by General Donzelot, was, by order of See also:Louis XVIII., surrendered to Sir See also:James See also:Campbell. By the treaty of See also:Paris (9th See also:November 1815) the contracting See also:powers—See also:Great See also:Britain, See also:Russia, Austria and See also:Prussia—agreed to place the " See also:United States of the Ionian Islands " under the exclusive See also:protection of Great Britain, and to give Austria the right of equal commercial See also:advantage with the protecting See also:country, a See also:plan strongly approved by See also:Count See also:Capo d'See also:Istria, the famous Corfiot noble who afterwards became See also:president of the new republic of See also:Greece. The terms of the treaty of Paris were not only of indefinite import but were susceptible of contradictory interpretations. British And instead of interpreting the other articles in See also:harmony Protec, with the first, which declared the islands one " See also:sole torate See also:free and See also:independent state," the protecting Power availed itself of every See also:ambiguity to extend its authority. The first See also:lord high See also:commissioner, Sir See also:Thomas See also:Maitland, who as See also:governor of See also:Malta had acquired the See also:sobriquet of " See also:King Tom," was not the See also:man to See also:foster the constitutional See also:liberty of an See also:infant state. The treaty required, with questionable See also:wisdom, that a constitution should be established, and this was accordinglydone; but its See also:practical value was trifling. The constitution, voted by a constituent See also:assembly in 1817 and applied in the following See also:year, placed the See also:administration in the hands of a senate of six members and a legislative assembly of See also:forty members; but the real authority was vested in the high commissioner, who was able directly to prevent anything, and indirectly to effect almost anything. Sir Thomas Maitland was not slow to exercise the See also:control thus permitted him, though on the whole he did so for the benefit of the islands. The construction of roads, the abolition of See also:direct taxes and of the system of farming the church lands, the securing of impartial administration of See also:justice, and the See also:establishment of educational institutions are among the services ascribed to his efforts.

These, however, made less impression on the Heptanesians than his despotic See also:

character and the See also:measures which he took to prevent them giving assistance in the Greek See also:war of independence in 1821. He was succeeded in 1823 by General Sir See also:Frederick See also:Adam, who in the See also:main carried out the same policy. Under his See also:government the new fortifications of Corfu and some of the most important public See also:works which still do See also:honour to the See also:English See also:protectorate were undertaken. Lord See also:Nugent, who became high commissioner in 1832, was followed by Sir See also:Howard See also:Douglas (1835-1841), who ruled with a See also:firm, too often with a high See also:hand; and he was met by continual intrigues, the principal exponent of the opposition being the famous Andreas Mustoxidi (d. 1861). A See also:complete See also:change of policy was inaugurated by Mr See also:Mackenzie (1841-1843), and his successor Lord See also:Seaton (1843–1849) was induced by the See also:European disturbances of 1848 to initiate a number of important reforms. But the party which wished for See also:union with Greece was rapidly growing in vigour and See also:voice. Serious insurrections of the peasantry, especially in Cephalonia, had to be put down by military force, and the See also:parliament passed a See also:resolution in favour of immediate union with Greece. The hopes of the unionists were roused by the See also:appointment of W. E. See also:Gladstone as high commissioner extraordinary to investigate the condition of the islands. From his known sympathy with Greek independence, it was their expectation that he would support their pretensions.

But after a tour through the principal islands Gladstone came to the conclusion that the abolition of the protectorate was not the wish of the mass of the people. For a few days in 1859 he held See also:

office as lord high commissioner, and in that capacity he proposed for the See also:consideration of the assembly a series of reforms. These reforms were, however, declared inadmissible by the assembly; and Sir See also:Henry Storks, who succeeded Gladstone in See also:February 1859, began his rule by a See also:prorogation. The contest continued between the assembly and the protectorate. The British government was slow to realize the true position of affairs: as See also:late as May 1861 Gladstone spoke of the cession of the islands as " a See also:crime against the safety of See also:Europe," and Sir Henry Storks continued to See also:report of tranquillity and contentment. The assembly of 1862 accused the high commissioner of violation of the constitution and of the treaty of Paris, and complained that See also:England remained in See also:ignorance of what took place in the islands. On the abdication of King See also:Otho of Greece in 1862 the Greek people by universal See also:suffrage voted See also:Prince See also:Alfred of England to the See also:throne, and when he declined to accept the See also:crown England was asked to name a successor. The cession to Greece. See also:candidate proposed was Prince See also:William See also:George of Gliicksburg, See also:brother of the princess of See also:Wales; and the British government declared to the provisional government of Greece that his selection would be followed by the long-refused cession of the Ionian Islands. After the prince's See also:election by the See also:national assembly in 1863 the high commissioner laid before the Ionian parliament the conditions on which the cession would be carried out. The rejection of one of those conditions—the demolition of the fortifications of Corfu—led to a new prorogation; but none the less (on See also:March 29, 1864) the plenipotentiaries of the five great powers signed the treaty by which the protectorate was brought to a close. The See also:neutrality which they attributed to the whole of the islands was (See also:January 1864) confined to Corfu and See also:Pax°.

On May 31st of that year Sir Henry Storks See also:

left Corfu with the English troops and men-of-war. King George made his entry into Corfu on the 6th of See also:June. Since their See also:annexation to Greece the history of the Ionian islands has been uneventful; owing to various causes their prosperity has somewhat declined. Corfu (Corcyra) with Paxo; Cephalonia; Santa Maura (Levkas) with Thiaki (Ithaca) and 1 Zante (Zacynthos) each form separate nomarchies or departments; Cerigo (Cythera.) forms part of the nomarchy of See also:Laconia. The islands retain the exemption from direct See also:taxation which they enjoyed under the British protectorate; in lieu of this there is an ad valorem tax of 202 `,'o on exported oil and a tax of 6% on See also:wine exported to Greek ports; these commodities are further liable to an export See also:duty of 12 A which is levied on all agricultural produce and articles of See also:local manufacture for the See also:maintenance and construction of roa Is. The excellent roads, which date from the British administration, are kept in See also:fair repair. See Mustoxidi, Delle cose Corciresi (Corfu. 1848) , Lunzi, IIept ritr 7rOX1.7-LKPtr Kuraoracrews 1tr 'E7rraencro E7rl 'Evsr&v (See also:Athens, 1856) : See also:Ansted, The I, I. (See also:London 1863); See also:Viscount See also:Kirkwall, Four Years in the I. I, (London, 1864) vol. i. containing a See also:chronological history of the British protectorate; F See also:Lenormant, La Grece et See also:les files ioniennes (Paris, 1865) ; P Chiotis, Hist. See also:des Iles ioniennes (Zante, 1815–1864) ; Mardo, Saggio di una descrizione geografico-storica de/le Isole (Corfu, 1865) (mainly geographical) ; De Bosset, Description des monnaies d'Ithaque et de Cephalonie (London, 1815); Postolakas, Kar&Toyer r 2,v &oXaLWV vot{Lci&rwv TWV vilo-tov KipKvpar, AEUKQSor, &c. (Athens, 1868), Wiebel, See also:Die Inset Kephalonia and die Meernzuhlen von See also:Argostoli (See also:Hamburg, 1873) ; Tsitselis, FXworapiov Kec/saXXnelar, (Athens, 1876); 'Oveµara Oiocwv iv KetliaXa7rvta in the " See also:Parnassus " i. 9-12 (Athens, 1877); See also:Riemann, " Recherches archeologiques sur les Iles ioniennes " in Bibliotheque des Ecoles frangaises d'Athenes et de See also:Rome (Paris, 1879–188o); See also:Gregorovius, Corfu : eine ionische Idylle (See also:Leipzig, 1882) ; J.

Partsch, Die Inset Corfu: eine geographische Monographie (See also:

Gotha, 1887) ; Die Insel Levkas (Gotha, 1889) ; Kephallenia and Dhaka (Gotha, 189o); Die Inset Zante (Gotha, 1891). (J. D.

End of Article: IONIAN ISLANDS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
IONIA 		[next]
IONIAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY

Site © 2006 - Net Industries