Kingdom of Corsica | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1736 | |||||||||
| Motto: Prudentia et industria vincitur tyrannis; Pro bono publico regno corsice[further explanation needed] | |||||||||
| Anthem: Dio vi salvi Regina ("God save you Queen") | |||||||||
 1737 map of Corsica commissioned by King Theodore | |||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized state | ||||||||
| Capital | Cervione;Corte | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Unitaryparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1736 | Theodore I | ||||||||
| Legislature | Diet | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | March 1736 | ||||||||
• Constitution | 15 April 1736 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 11 November 1736 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| [citation needed] | 8,680 km2 (3,350 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Currency | soldi | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | France ∟Corsica | ||||||||
TheKingdom of Corsica was a short-lived kingdom on the island ofCorsica. It was formed after the islanders crowned theGerman adventurerTheodor Stephan Freiherr von Neuhoff[1] as King of Corsica.
AtGenoa, Neuhoff made the acquaintance of some Corsican rebels and exiles, and persuaded them that he could free their country from Genoese tyranny if they made him king of the island. With the help of theBey of Tunis, he landed in Corsica on March 12, 1736[2] with military aid. The islanders, whose campaign had not been successful, elected and crowned him king. He assumed the title of King Theodore I, issued edicts, instituted an order ofknighthood, and waged war on the Genoese with consent of the 24-member Diet, at first with some success. But in-fighting among the rebels soon led to their defeat. The Genoese put a price on his head and published an account of his colourful past, and he left Corsica on November 11, 1736,[2] ostensibly to seek foreign assistance. After sounding out the possibility of protection from Spain andNaples, he set off toHolland, where he was arrested for debt inAmsterdam.
On regaining his freedom, Theodore sent his nephew to Corsica with a supply of arms; he himself returned to Corsica in 1738, 1739, and 1743, but the combined Genoese and French forces continued to occupy the island. In 1749 he arrived in England to seek support, but eventually fell into debt and was confined in a debtors' prison inLondon until 1755. He regained his freedom by declaring himselfbankrupt, making over his kingdom of Corsica to his creditors, and subsisted on the charity ofHorace Walpole and some other friends until his death in London in 1756.
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