WANDERINGS IN CORSICA:
ITS HISTORY AND ITS HEROES.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF
FERDINAND GREGOROVIUS
BY ALEXANDER MUIR.
VOL. I.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
It was in the
summer of the past year that I went over to the island of Corsica. Its unknown
solitudes, and the strange stories I had heard of the country and its
inhabitants, tempted me to make the excursion. But I had no intention of
entangling myself so deeply in its impracticable labyrinths as I actually did.
I fared like the heroes of the fairy-tales, who are allured by a wondrous bird
into some mysterious forest, and follow it ever farther and farther into the
beautiful wilderness. At last I had wandered over most of the island. The fruit
of that summer is the present book, which I now send home to my friends. May it
not meet with an unsympathetic reception! It is hoped that at least the history
of the Corsicans, and their popular poetry, entitles it to something better.
The history of
the Corsicans, all granite like their mountains, and singularly in harmony with
their nature, is in itself an independent whole; and is therefore capable of
being presented, even briefly, with completeness. It awakens the same interest
of which we are sensible in reading the biography of an unusually organized
man, and would possess valid claims to our attention even though Corsica could
not boast Napoleon as her offspring. But certainly the history of Napoleon's
native country ought to contribute its share of data to an accurate estimate of
his character; and as the great man is to be viewed as a result of that
history, its claims on our careful consideration are the more authentic.
It is not the
object of my book to communicate information in the sphere of natural science;
this is as much beyond its scope as beyond the abilities of the author. The
work has, however, been written with an earnest purpose.
I am under
many obligations for literary assistance to the learned Corsican Benedetto
Viale, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Rome; and it would be
difficult for me to say how helpful various friends were to me in Corsica
itself. My especial thanks are, however, due to the exiled Florentine
geographer, Francesco Marmocchi, and to Camillo Friess, Archivarius in Ajaccio.
Rome, April 2, 1853.
CONTENTS.
BOOK
I.—HISTORY.
Chap. I.— Earliest
Accounts
II.— The Greeks, Etruscans,
Carthaginians, and Romans in Corsica
III.— State of the Island during the
Roman Period
IV.— Commencement of the Mediæval
Period
V.—
Feudalism in Corsica
VI.— The Pisans in Corsica
VII.— Pisa or Genoa?—Giudice della
Rocca
VIII.— Commencement of Genoese
Supremacy
IX.— Struggles with Genoa—Arrigo
della Rocca
X.—
Vincentello d'Istria
XI.— The Bank of St. George of Genoa
XII.— Patriotic Struggles—Giampolo
da Leca—Renuccio della Rocca
XIII.— State of Corsica under the
Bank of St. George
XIV.—
The Patriot Sampiero
XV.—
Sampiero—France and Corsica
XVI.— Sampiero in Exile—His wife
Vannina
XVII.— Return of Sampiero—Stephen
Doria
XVIII.— The Death of Sampiero
XIX.— Sampiero's Son, Alfonso—Treaty
with Genoa
BOOK
II.—HISTORY
Chap. I.— State of Corsica in the Sixteenth
Century—A Greek Colony established on the Island
II.—
Insurrection against Genoa
III.— Successes against Genoa, and
German Mercenaries—Peace concluded
IV.— Recommencement of
Hostilities—Declaration of Independence—Democratic Constitution of Costa
V.— Baron Theodore von Neuhoff
VI.— Theodore I., King of Corsica
VII.— Genoa in Difficulties—Aided by
France—Theodore expelled
VIII.— The French reduce Corsica—New
Insurrection—The Patriot Gaffori
IX.—
Pasquale Paoli
X.—
Paoli's Legislation
XI.— Corsica under Paoli—Traffic in
Nations—Victories over the French
XII.—
The Dying Struggle
BOOK III.—WANDERINGS IN THE SUMMER
OF 1852
Chap. I.— Arrival in Corsica
II.— The City of Bastia
III.—
Environs of Bastia
IV.— Francesco Marmocchi of
Florence—The Geology of Corsica
V.— A Second Lesson, the Vegetation
of Corsica
VI.—
Learned Men
VII.— Corsican Statistics—Relation
of Corsica to France
VIII.—
Bracciamozzo the Bandit
IX.— The Vendetta, or Revenge to the
Death!
X.—
Bandit Life
BOOK
IV.
Chap. I.— Southern Part of Cape Corso
II.— From Brando to Luri
III.—
Pino
IV.— The Tower of Seneca
V.—
Seneca Morale
VI.—
Seneca Birbone
VII.—
Seneca Eroe
VIII.— Thoughts of a Bride
IX.—
Corsican Superstitions
BOOK
V.
Chap. I.— Vescovato and the Corsican
Historians
II.— Rousseau and the Corsicans
III.— The Moresca—Armed Dance of the
Corsicans
IV.—
Joachim Murat
V.— Venzolasca—Casabianca—The Old
Cloisters
VI.— Hospitality and Family Life in
Oreto—The Corsican Antigone
VII.— A Ride through the District of
Orezza to Morosaglia
VIII.—
Pasquale Paoli
IX.—
Paoli's Birthplace
X.—
Clemens Paoli
XI.—
The Old Hermit
XII.— The Battle-field of Ponte
Nuovo
