It seems to work as 'enlarge' about 2/3 of the time for me and send me to imgur 1/3 of the time, been that way since september at least.
 
Please report any dead/malfunctioning image links to me. I'd prefer you send me that information in a PM/"conversation," though, so we don't clutter up the thread with technical stuff.
 
Dude who owns is one of the prospective heirs of the King of Corsica, rather. The youngest and the one who has spent the least amount of time actually fighting for his dear uncle's kingdom (other than the french count) but also the closest actual relative in the running and the wealthiest, owing to the lands he holds.

He was made the prince of Carpaia for this victory, albeit that's more of a victory title rather than one signifying any feudal contract or other form of transfer of lands.

EDIT: Based on the family tree, not actually closer than Friedrich von Neuhoff zu Rauschenburg - both are first cousins of Theodore.
 
Last edited:
Victory Lap
Victory Lap


vdmM0h6.png

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Ajaccio


To celebrate Corsica’s long-awaited independence, King Theodore decided to make an official tour of the island. On October 25th, he began a tour of the Diqua which would start in the Castagniccia, the heart of the rebellion. The king and his entourage, including the royal princes, were greeted in the Castagniccian villages by cheering crowds, church bells, and incessant celebratory gunfire. The notabili of each village turned out to pay homage to the king and gain the honor of receiving the royal party, while their wives lined up in their best dresses and offered cakes, sweets, and garlands of flowers. “I am thoroughly sick of fiadone,”[1] wrote Don Matteo, Principe di Porto Vecchio to his wife, adding that they had received so much of it “we might reasonably subsist on cake alone.” The king and his men listened patiently to speeches which the local leaders had prepared, as well as verse from those who fancied themselves poets; one caporale insisted on declaiming a series of sonnets he had composed for the occasion.

The reaction to the king’s arrival in Bastia was understandably more subdued. This was not to say that there were no naziunali in Bastia; the rebels had always enjoyed the assistance of a sympathetic segment of the population. Still, Bastia had been continually assaulted over the course of the rebellion, from when rebel mobs had raided the suburbs in early 1730 up to the city’s sack by Theodore’s army, and the royalist government had treated the city like occupied territory. In the closing years of the Revolution, Bastia was effectively the island’s largest barracks, as Minister of War Count Marcantonio Giappiconi figured that by moving his training camp from Vescovato to Bastia he could simultaneously keep the population in line by the regular army’s presence.

Nevertheless, independence had not been immediately followed by a mass exodus. The great Genoese families had for the most part already left in years past, and even the filogenovese and “Corso-Genoese” families proved reluctant to flee. Bastia was their home, and despite all the hardships they had endured they were not keen to abandon their livelihoods and properties to become penniless exiles in Genoa, a city already teeming with the displaced and destitute. Most Bastiacci opted to stay put as long as life remained tolerable.

After an entrance to the city on horseback, Theodore hosted a banquet for the prominent local families - virtually all of them filogenovesi - who presided over the political and economic life of the city. Dining with them at the governor’s palace, Theodore attempted to win over his former foes and reconcile them with the new regime. He proved very interested - or at least a sufficiently good actor to feign interest - in the economy of Bastia, and discussed possibilities for investment and development with the local merchants. Launching into a speech, he explained that whatever their allegiances in the past, they were now all Corsicans together and ought to work for the common prosperity of Corsica. He further announced the end of military rule in Bastia - the city had been under martial law since the sack - and pledged that the Bastiacci would be permitted the same right as the other communes of Corsica to elect their own podesta. Six weeks later this was accomplished, and Anton Giuseppe Mattei was elected as Bastia’s first post-independence podesta. Although undoubtedly a filogenovese during the rebellion, Mattei’s selection was ratified by the king, and the new podesta pledged his loyalty to Theodore and the constitution.

One of the important dignitaries at Theodore’s banquet had been Salvatore Viale, a major player in the fishing industry. Fishing was one of the few industries on Corsica which was dependent on credit; because the capital involved could be significant, most fishermen borrowed money for equipment and provisions - often as groups who would work on the same boat together - and repaid their loans at the season’s end. Viale was among the most prominent of these “marine financiers,” owning several ships and operating what might be considered one of Corsica’s only indigenous banks. In a move that surprised almost everyone, Theodore offered Viale the position of Secretary of the Navy. The king had a number of loyal captains, but to actually administer the tiny Corsican navy he sought someone who could organize a department and balance the books. Viale initially declined the offer; he was not a military man, he explained, and there was not all that much of a navy to administer. But Theodore was not done with him, and a few months later Viale would finally consent to serve.

Theodore’s offer to Viale - and his eventual appointment - was not without controversy. Viale was not just any native of Bastia; he came from a distinguished Genoese noble house, and another Viale (a distant cousin) would be elected Doge of Genoa a few months later. In 1640, his ancestor Benedetto Viale had served as Commissioner-General of Corsica, and had decided to settle permanently in Bastia along with his family. Although they had intermarried with local Corsican families in the century since then, the Viale clan of Bastia had always been reliable supporters of the Genoese regime. When Commissioner-General Spinola had sought loans from the citizens of Bastia to help fund his beleaguered forces in the interior, Salvatore Viale had been among his willing creditors. Some in the cabinet objected to such a man being made a minister, considering him to be more Genoese than Corsican. Theodore, however, felt that it was necessary to set an example that independence marked a clean break with the animosities of the past.

From Bastia, Theodore went overland to San Fiorenzo and then to Nonza in Capo Corso, whence he sailed west to Isola Rossa aboard the Cyrne, the “flagship” corvette of the Corsican state, which had been embellished with some faux gilding (actually yellow paint). At Isola Rossa he was received grandly by Marquis Simone Fabiani. lthough relations between Theodore and Fabiani had been somewhat strained in past years, it was not in evidence now, and one of his secretaries reported that Fabiani and the king greeted each other like old friends. The king confirmed Fabiani in his governorship and named him “Captain-General of the Army,” a title which held more prestige than actual power. Theodore also met with representatives of the Nederlands-Corsicaanse Compagnie who gave him a brief tour of their newly constructed depot. It was not much to look at yet, but the Dutch had plans for more than just a warehouse. They discussed plans to establish a coopery to produce barrels for export on-site, as well as shops for carpenters and ironmongers to provide materials for this work.

After spending more than a week in the Balagna, the royal party re-embarked on the Cyrne at Calvi and sailed to Ajaccio. Rough seas delayed their arrival for several days, but ultimately the ship arrived without incident. It was now nearly Christmas, and the tour had been going at a breakneck speed. With winter upon them and the weather worsening, Theodore decided to postpone the rest of the tour and remain at Ajaccio until spring. The king was received with much celebration; the people came to the harbor in a great throng to see the “King’s Ship” arrive, flying the Moor’s Head and decked with streamers of green cloth. Theodore disembarked in his crimson robes and passed through the crowd to cheers of “Evvivu Corsica, Evvivu u Re!” The reception was notably different than his rather sober entrance into Bastia; then again, the population of Ajaccio was substantially more “Corsican,” and unlike Bastia’s military occupation Ajaccio had been ruled with a fairly light hand. Count Giuseppe Costa, Theodore’s intendant, had administered the city with the cooperation of the local elders. As in Bastia, Theodore dined with the elders and other notables, and restored elective government to the city. Costa stepped down to be replaced with the Ajaccian lawyer and city elder Giuseppe Maria Buonaparte. Buonparte may or may not have had royalist sympathies before the fall of Ajaccio, but certainly emerged as a committed naziunale after the city’s fall. He would later ennobled by Theodore with the title of cavaliere.[2]

Theodore established his “winter headquarters” in the palazzo publico, the former residence of the Genoese commissioner within the upper town. The king spent the mild Ajaccian winter in something resembling a vacation; it was the first time in more than a decade he had not been either an insurgent leader or a wanted exile. As Christmas approached, the king was presented with a kid by the local herders - the traditional Christmas meat - while the fishermen supplied the royal table with “Corsican caviar,” known as bottarga (cured mullet roe), a seasonal delicacy. Even Theodore’s vacations, however, were not idle. In December he went on a riding tour of the olive orchards in Ajaccio’s hinterland, observing the annual harvest and the oil pressing. He held regular audiences at the palazzo publico and received delegations from groups of tradesmen and local notables, and made several forays to towns and villages in the greater Ajaccio area.

Genoa’s defeat had augured poorly for the Greek community, as they had always maintained their loyalty to the republic. Only Theodore stood between them and a hostile population. The king had every desire to maintain them in Corsica and if possible resettle them at their old colony of Paomia, but there were conflicting land claims by the neighboring pieves. In January, he summoned representatives from Vico, Renno, and other local communes to discuss a territorial settlement. The solution Theodore eventually imposed was to cede formerly Genoese lands in the vicinity to satisfy the Corsicans and allow the Greeks to retain title to most of their former lands in the vicinity Paomia - somewhat reduced from the Genoese grant, but certainly enough to sustain the community.

To the Greeks, Theodore offered to renew the agreement they had made with the Genoese. This required the Greeks to submit to papal authority (while maintaining their own Greek rite), serve the crown in a military fashion when required, and pay the same taxes as the Corsicans, while granting them the full use of their lands and permitting them to keep and bear arms (the Greeks had been disarmed after the fall of Ajaccio). What he could not offer them, however, was what they needed to actually rebuild their colony - building materials, livestock, seed, and so on. Theodore simply did not have the money. Although the Greek leaders assented to the new agreement, for the moment the community remained in Ajaccio as they lacked the resources to start again from scratch at Paomia.

In March, Theodore received another “ethnic” delegation, this one made up of Jews representing the communities of Livorno and Tunis. They had been among Theodore’s earliest financial backers, and although it had taken somewhat longer than expected their investment in the Westphalian baron had finally borne fruit. To their delight, they found that Theodore’s tolerance was not merely a ploy to obtain loans, and that he remained fully committed to religious toleration and the settlement of Jews in Corsica. His offer was astonishing for its time: Other than Poland, Corsica was the only state in Europe which offered civic equality for Jews. They would enjoy full legal rights, and there were to be no ghettos, no additional taxes, no restrictions on the trades they could practice, and no distinctive clothing or badges. Although this policy provoked harsh criticism from some quarters, it made Theodore famous among European Jews - a Jewish poet of the 1750s, citing his policies on slavery and religious tolerance, hailed him a bit over-dramatically as “the German Cyrus” - as well as a renowned figure among the more religiously progressive Enlightenment thinkers of his day.

Notwithstanding this initial promise, Theodore’s original offer to give the Jews a colony at Aleria proved overly optimistic. It became clear to the would-be settlers that Aleria was not the most salubrious site for a settlement, and it also lacked any natural harbor. Instead, Jewish immigration in Theodore’s day was to focus mainly on Bastia and Ajaccio, the former because of its proximity to Italy and Livorno, and the latter because it was a center of the coral trade, which was already an industry with a large Jewish presence. Although their presence in Corsica and Theodore’s liberal attitudes would spark intense controversy, the king’s policy succeeded in attracting skilled artisans, merchants, and a number of renowned writers and intellectuals of the Jewish community.

The most important foreigner to present himself before Theodore at Ajaccio, however, was Pierre Emmanuel, Marquis de Crussol-Florensac, envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the King of France to the King of Corsica, who arrived in late March. The 32 year old Marquis de Crussol was no stranger to Corsica; he had been a colonel in the army of the French intervention and had led his regiment at the battles of the Balagna and Ponte Novu. In the latter engagement he had been shot twice and seriously wounded, but he eventually recovered and continued to serve in the French army of occupation until the withdrawal of the army from Corsica. The marquis was promoted to brigadier and served gallantly in Germany and Italy in the subsequent War of the Austrian Succession, but was forced to surrender along with the rest of the French army of Italy at Piacenza. He was paroled and spent a year on garrison duty before rejoining the French army in Provence in late 1747, and received a promotion to maréchal de camp just before the end of the war.

Exemplifying the gallantry of the French nobility of his age, the Marquis de Crussol harbored no evident resentment towards the Corsicans for his near-death experience (or the actual deaths of many men in his regiment). In fact he spoke very highly of the “fighting spirit” of the Corsicans thereafter, and shared the general contempt of the French expeditionary officers for their Genoese counterparts. In a letter to a fellow officer written during his parole in 1747, he contrasted the conduct of the Corsicans, who had fought “to the last redoubt” to defend their island, to the conduct of their Genoese masters who had capitulated to the Austrians as soon as enemy troops set foot upon their territory. Crussol did not question the rightness of his king’s cause or approve of rebellion, but he was at heart a soldier who respected military virtue in others.

Crussol’s role in Corsica was expansive. More than a mere embassy, his mission was intended to be simultaneously diplomatic, military, and economic. Most obviously, he was to be the physical representation of that tether which Versailles hoped to keep upon King Theodore and his kingdom, and ensure that the policy of Europe’s newest monarchy was in line with the demands of French security. Crussol, however, was not merely to be Theodore’s minder but the director of a development project, arriving at Ajaccio with a modest but skilled entourage of French officers, clerks, surveyors, and engineers. The aim was both noble and practical: It was a “civilizing mission” to bring the benefits of enlightened French civilization to the half-savage Corsicans, but the mission’s expertise was also intended to develop the resources of this wild country for the benefit of France and cultivate the good will of Corsican people. This, in turn, would bring Corsica more solidly within the French orbit - and prepare the ground for an eventual annexation by the French state, if it became desirable and expedient to do so.

Theodore fêted Crussol as much as he was able, and the marquis had come just in time to witness the king presiding over Ajaccio’s easter celebration. Crussol wrote that the gunfire was so great on Good Friday that it was as if “the city was besieged and being taken by assault.” The king had hoped to continue his tour in the south, but concerning developments abroad and the demands of his administration forced the rest of the southern tour to be postponed. Theodore and the royal party returned directly to Corti, to begin in earnest the task of ruling Corsica.



The Royal Tour of 1749-50


Footnotes
[1] An indigenous cheesecake made from brocciu (a ricotta-like cheese made from sheep or goat’s milk) and flavored with lemon.
[2] The Buonaparte family had long claimed to be nobles by pointing out the nobility of other branches of their family in mainland Italy. As with many Corsican families which claimed nobility, they were denied this recognition by the Genoese, a factor which drove many leading Corsican houses to side with Theodore during the Revolution.
 
Last edited:
To the Greeks, Theodore offered to renew the agreement they had made with the Genoese. This required the Greeks to submit to papal authority (while maintaining their own Greek rite), serve the crown in a military fashion when required, and pay the same taxes as the Corsicans, while granting them the full use of their lands and permitting them to keep and bear arms (the Greeks had been disarmed after the fall of Ajaccio). What he could not offer them, however, was what they needed to actually rebuild their colony - building materials, livestock, seed, and so on. Theodore simply did not have the money. Although the Greek leaders assented to the new agreement, for the moment the community remained in Ajaccio as they lacked the resources to start again from scratch at Paomia.

Interesting. This is functionally revolutionary - the organized Byzantine Catholic movement didn't start until the late 19th century. This may dramatically expedite the foundation of the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
 
Interesting. This is functionally revolutionary - the organized Byzantine Catholic movement didn't start until the late 19th century. This may dramatically expedite the foundation of the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church

You may have misunderstood - Theodore is ratifying a situation that already existed. The original 17th century agreement between the Genoese and the Maniot settlers stipulated that the Greeks would have to become Catholics and obey the Catholic hierarchy, but that they would be permitted to continue their own rites in their own language under their own priests. This was not so much an organized "Greek Catholic Rite" as an ad hoc arrangement which suited both the Genoese and the Greek settlers. Since Theodore cares even less about religious orthodoxy than the Genoese, he's happy to offer the Greeks the same deal that they originally made with Genoa.
 
Last edited:
I've been silently reading this timeline for the past 3 months or so and I have to say, you have made the most detailed alternate history I've ever seen! 18th-century Europe is not my thing, so I'll probably do nothing more than lurk around and liking posts, but consider myself a new subscriber. Long live Theodore! :)
 
I know that the butterflies haven't been flying too much during this TL, but Theodore's Jewish Emancipation is going to have massive ramifications in Jewish history. I'd wager that his policies are going to draw in some of the progenitors of the Haskalah (those Mendelssohn and others looked to for inspiration) and effectively jumpstart the movement. The mere possibility of emancipation is going to get the wheels moving a lot faster than OTL across Europe. Though Yiddish and Ladino are still going to be the linguistic giants in TTL's Jewish world, the Italian Jewish community is going to be far more influential.
 
You know, after hearing about all those gunshots at celebration I wouldn't be surprised to see Corsica become the America of Europe in terms of gun control and by that I mean Corsica will have even less gun control than America probably none at all and that's really cool.
 
It has always struck me as a remarkably silly past time, the bullets come down eventually, even at best you just wasting powder.
 
I know that the butterflies haven't been flying too much during this TL, but Theodore's Jewish Emancipation is going to have massive ramifications in Jewish history. I'd wager that his policies are going to draw in some of the progenitors of the Haskalah (those Mendelssohn and others looked to for inspiration) and effectively jumpstart the movement. The mere possibility of emancipation is going to get the wheels moving a lot faster than OTL across Europe. Though Yiddish and Ladino are still going to be the linguistic giants in TTL's Jewish world, the Italian Jewish community is going to be far more influential.

This is definitely something I’ve been thinking about, and I suspect it is likely to push the question of Jewish Emancipation into the mainstream decades earlier than OTL. It’s interesting that you should bring up the Haskalah, for while Theodore’s position on emancipation is right up their alley, his personal interest in Judaism is probably not - Theodore dabbled in Jewish mysticism throughout his life, and knew a number of prominent Jewish mystics and kabbalists. He was, for instance, an associate and patron of Samuel Falk. (In the end, deposed and desperate, Theodore seems to have fallen for the same grift that he had once participated in as a young man; he allegedly paid Falk a substantial amount of money in the hopes of getting mystical aid in restoring his fortunes. Clearly it didn’t work, as Theodore was arrested for his debts and died in prison.) My understanding was that the intellectuals of the Haskalah were very much against the kabbalah, seeing it as irrational and superstitious. Theodore might be “enlightened” when it comes to certain views on religious and civil rights, but he’s not much of a rationalist.

I'm still undecided as to how much Jewish immigration Theodore's policies will actually encourage. Civic equality is all well and good, but it’s civic equality in Corsica, which is not one of Europe’s most prosperous, cultured, or consequential places. The Jews of continental Italy might not yet be “emancipated,” but for some of them - particularly the Livornesi Jews - their lives are still quite tolerable. I’m not sure how many will really consider moving to Corsica under such circumstances. I suspect the earliest batch of Jewish immigrants are going to be those involved in the coral industry (as Ajaccio is already an important center in that trade), but the economic opportunities in other sectors are not all that great right now.
 
Last edited:
This is definitely something I’ve been thinking about, and I suspect it is likely to push the question of Jewish Emancipation into the mainstream decades earlier than OTL. It’s interesting that you should bring up the Haskalah, for while Theodore’s position on emancipation is right up their alley, his personal interest in Judaism is probably not - Theodore dabbled in Jewish mysticism throughout his life, and knew a number of prominent Jewish mystics and kabbalists. He was, for instance, an associate and patron of Samuel Falk. (In the end, deposed and desperate, Theodore seems to have fallen for the same grift that he had once participated in as a young man; he allegedly paid Falk a substantial amount of money in the hopes of getting mystical aid in restoring his fortunes. Clearly it didn’t work, as Theodore was arrested for his debts and died in prison.) My understanding was that the intellectuals of the Haskalah were very much against the kabbalah, seeing it as irrational and superstitious. Theodore might be “enlightened” when it comes to certain views on religious and civil rights, but he’s not much of a rationalist.

I'm still undecided as to how much Jewish immigration Theodore's policies will actually encourage. Civic equality is all well and good, but it’s civic equality in Corsica, which is not one of Europe’s most prosperous, cultured, or consequential places. The Jews of continental Italy might not yet be “emancipated,” but for some of them - particularly the Livornesi Jews - their lives are still quite tolerable. I’m not sure how many will really consider moving to Corsica under such circumstances. I suspect the earliest batch of Jewish immigrants are going to be those involved in the coral industry (as Ajaccio is already an important center in that trade), but the economic opportunities in other sectors are not all that great right now.

Though later on there was considerable tension between the Maskallim and proponents of Jewish mysticism, IIRC that hostility only developed in the early 19th century. Prior to this point, the fact that both were challenging the status quo made them allies in an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" sort of way. I'm also not sure that the maskalim are going to care all that much given the breadth of Theodore's emancipation. As an aside, this unprecedented move is likely going to be used by Theodore's opponents both domestically and abroad to their own ends.

As for how much Jewish immigration Theodore's policies are going to lead to, that's a really good question. You're right to say that many Livornesi Jews are going to balk at moving to Corsica, and that Ajaccio is likely going to be a major center initially due to the coral trade. That being said, you could say a lot of the same things you said about Corsica about Poland in the 13th century when they instituted policies of religious toleration. Though many Jews will likely remain where they are, the mere possibility of equality with Gentiles is going to be a significant draw. When coupled with the opportunities presented by the under-developed nature of the Corsican economy and middle class, I think you might see a sizeable migration of ambitious young Jews. One potential source that you may not have thought of would be the Ottoman Empire. The economic decline of the Jewish community around Salonica had begun in the 17th century and there was a substantial portion of the community that still considered themselves Italian. I could see them seeing Corsica offering them a chance for a fresh start, lower taxes, and a chance to use their expertise in weaving and woolens. This policy, of course, will cause a bit of a backlash from Corsicans but given Theodore's popularity, nothing overwhelming.

I would also like to point out that Berlin wasn't anything to write home about in the late 18th century, and definitely had a worse climate than Bastia or Ajaccio. The Prussian monarchs were also far more hostile to Jews. None of that stopped it from becoming an early center of the Haskalah.

If Theodore's policies are successful, I wonder if it might be enough to convince Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great in particular to adopt more tolerant policies than OTL (something along the lines of the 1782 Edict of Toleration). Though these will fall far short of what Theodore's Corsica has they will still be well ahead of OTL. In England, Theodore's example could lead to the Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753 (allowing Jews to become naturalized British citizens upon petitioning Parliament) not being repealed in 1754, this in turn likely speeds up the emancipation of non-Anglican Protestants and later Catholics in England.
 
Last edited:
The reaction to the king’s arrival in Bastia was understandably more subdued. This was not to say that there were no naziunali in Bastia; the rebels had always enjoyed the assistance of a sympathetic segment of the population. Still, Bastia had been continually assaulted over the course of the rebellion, from when rebel mobs had raided the suburbs in early 1730 up to the city’s sack by Theodore’s army, and the royalist government had treated the city like occupied territory. In the closing years of the Revolution, Bastia was effectively the island’s largest barracks, as Minister of War Count Marcantonio Giappiconi figured that by moving his training camp from Vescovato to Bastia he could simultaneously keep the population in line by the regular army’s presence.

That's a clever move on Giappiconi's part. With limited resources, anything that can lead to troops doing double duty is a boon. Will the training camp stay in Bastia, or will it move elsewhere now that Corsica is at peace?

To the Greeks, Theodore offered to renew the agreement they had made with the Genoese. This required the Greeks to submit to papal authority (while maintaining their own Greek rite), serve the crown in a military fashion when required, and pay the same taxes as the Corsicans, while granting them the full use of their lands and permitting them to keep and bear arms (the Greeks had been disarmed after the fall of Ajaccio). What he could not offer them, however, was what they needed to actually rebuild their colony - building materials, livestock, seed, and so on. Theodore simply did not have the money. Although the Greek leaders assented to the new agreement, for the moment the community remained in Ajaccio as they lacked the resources to start again from scratch at Paomia.

In March, Theodore received another “ethnic” delegation, this one made up of Jews representing the communities of Livorno and Tunis. They had been among Theodore’s earliest financial backers, and although it had taken somewhat longer than expected their investment in the Westphalian baron had finally borne fruit. To their delight, they found that Theodore’s tolerance was not merely a ploy to obtain loans, and that he remained fully committed to religious toleration and the settlement of Jews in Corsica. His offer was astonishing for its time: Other than Poland, Corsica was the only state in Europe which offered civic equality for Jews. They would enjoy full legal rights, and there were to be no ghettos, no additional taxes, no restrictions on the trades they could practice, and no distinctive clothing or badges. Although this policy provoked harsh criticism from some quarters, it made Theodore famous among European Jews - a Jewish poet of the 1750s, citing his policies on slavery and religious tolerance, hailed him a bit over-dramatically as “the German Cyrus” - as well as a renowned figure among the more religiously progressive Enlightenment thinkers of his day.

Theodore being a 'good guy' by modern standards and this actually being perfectly in-character to who he was in real life is remarkable and will lead to interesting butterflies. Personally, I doubt I could have resisted levying just a little bit extra tax on the basis that the kingdom is going to be near-perpetually perilously close to having to default on the big loan from France - abstaining on all the oppressive laws should still be enough of a boon to guarantee plentiful Jewish settlers and if they were known to pay more taxes for the 'privilege' of living on Corsica, this would also likely lead to the native Corsicans being more willing to accept the immigrants. If total equality leads to even more skilled migrants, this might be a moot point. However, plentiful skilled migrants would mean that there's a "stealing our jarbs!" aspect to any potential resentment the native Corsican tradesmen might feel towards these Jewish settlers.

Theodore fêted Crussol as much as he was able, and the marquis had come just in time to witness the king presiding over Ajaccio’s easter celebration. Crussol wrote that the gunfire was so great on Good Friday that it was as if “the city was besieged and being taken by assault.” The king had hoped to continue his tour in the south, but concerning developments abroad and the demands of his administration forced the rest of the southern tour to be postponed. Theodore and the royal party returned directly to Corti, to begin in earnest the task of ruling Corsica.

Might this lead to some in the Dila feeling snubbed by the king? In particular, I can see the proud marquis of Ornano and the staunch loyalists of Zicavo feeling that they got gypped.
 
Naples re-invited Jews in 1740 by Carlo III under the auspices of Bernardo Tanucci, but he jad to cave in to public protests and expel them just 7 years later.
In some libels the King was even given the titulum crucis: ICRJ (Infans Carolus Rex Judeorum), while a capuchin friar threatened the Queen with not having a male heir until Jews were expelled.

Now the King's confessor was an antisemite Jesuit and had great influence on the sovereign, this won't happen in Corsica of course and there isn't the risk of a huge urban mob getting into a frenzy over jews like in Naples.
On the other hand Theodore has much less control over Corsica and need popular consent to a larger degree than the King of Naples, but public acceptance of Jews won't be that easy I am afraid. It will be hard for them to establish themselves outside of Ajaccio for a bit at least.
 
I was going to say the Jews and the Greeks will be disproportionately victims of crime but given the vendettas meant the island had a murder rate of 700-900 out of every 100,000 people, not far off 1 in a 100, I'm not sure how much they'd notice even if they weren't.
 
One advantage Theodore has - that, say, the King of Naples does not - is that Corsica is virgin territory with regards to both Jews and Jewish legislation. Elsewhere, Jewish emancipation meant the repeal of longstanding laws and customs. Genoa certainly had Jewish codes (they expelled most of their Jewish population in 1737) but these laws had no practical effect in Corsica since there were never any Jews there in the first place. Except those few elite Corsicans who have traveled abroad, the people have no experience with badges, ghettos,* "closed" cities, or any of the other myriad restrictions present in most of Europe. Nor does Theodore have to abolish any act or promulgate any law to achieve what he wants; he can simply do nothing, since none of these restrictions exist in Corsica to start with. Strictly speaking, Theodoran liberty is not a "reform" at all; it is simply the default state of Corsican law and society since 1736 as a consequence of the liberal constitution.

Obviously there will be hostility towards the Jews in the same way that there was a general hostility towards all "heretics" (read: everyone except Latin-rite Catholics), and just because the Corsicans have never seen a Jew doesn't mean they aren't aware of the Church's general antagonism towards them. But antisemitism simply has never been a political or social force in Corsica, and it's worth noting that those naziunali who most loudly opposed Theodore's religious policy have already exited the stage ITTL. The most vocal opponent of religious toleration, Giacinto Paoli, was blown apart by a cannonball (indeed, that was our POD) and the rest of the most prominent religious dissenters ended up joining the indifferenti and got booted off the island as a consequence.

Moreover, there is simply no organized clerical faction in Corsica. The island literally has no bishops; as they were all Genoese or Genoese collaborators, they were all chased from the island and they have yet to return (because Theodore won't give them their land back). Corsica has a fair number of monasteries, but none of them are wealthy or have any political power to speak of. Corsica is a land of many priests, but they're uneducated and disorganized. There are some locally respected theologians, but they are not necessarily against Theodore; when Giacinto Paoli and some other doubters (IOTL) summoned an "expert," Canon Albertini of Orezza, to give his opinion on Theodore's policy of freedom of conscience, Albertini defended the king and pointed out that Livorno seemed to be doing just fine with its liberal Jewish policy.

As far as the acceptance of the Jews goes, I think the example of the Greeks is instructive. Despite being notionally Catholic, the Corsicans didn't consider them "real Christians" because of their foreign rites and language (and thus referred to them as "Turks," which along with "Lutheran" was Corsican all-purpose slang for a religious outsider). While the communities got on well initially, relations soon soured and turned violent. Yet the Greeks had problems that the Jews probably will not. In the first place, most Italian Jews presumably speak Italian and wear the local clothes, while the Greeks refused to learn the local language and persisted in wearing their national costume. In urban locales like Ajaccio, the Jews will also be in a more cosmopolitan environment (by Corsican standards) where government power is strong, unlike the Greeks of Paomia who lived near conservative rural Corsicans in a place where government authority was nonexistent. While the Jews, like the Greeks in Paomia, will not be marrying into Corsican families, they will at least be living among Corsicans in the city rather than sequestered off in an isolated farming colony.

Certainly opposition to Theodore's policies will arise, and it is entirely possible that a later turn against the Jews - either by a less tolerant monarch or a more antisemitic population - could materialize. I agree that settlement outside the presidii is very unlikely, and probably undesirable for all parties. In the near term, however, I think Theodore's policy is unlikely to have significant negative domestic repercussions. He has more to fear from reactions abroad, particularly from Pope Benedict XIV, who in 1752 condemned Genoa's new Jewish statutes which were much less liberal than the statutes of Livorno, to say nothing of Theodore's policy IOTL. Relations with Rome might get rather difficult, particularly when coupled with the fact that Theodore's government has expelled all the bishops and confiscated their property, has seized the tithe for itself, and unceremoniously booted Benedict's favorite preacher out of the country.


*Well, ghettos did exist in Corsica, but they were Corsican ghettos in the Genoese presidii like the Borgu of Ajaccio.
 
Last edited:

Bison

Banned
Now's the more interesting part of the timeline - the economy, culture, and administration. I hope Theodore embraces laissez-faire, especially when it comes to international commerce, but the debt stings. If only Theodore knew of the Seven Years War..
 
Top