Prof. Celine Dauverd (History: CU Boulder): “The Genoese Colonization of Corsica,”
a works-in-progress workshop  with respondents:

• Suzanne Magnanini (French & Italian: CU Boulder)
• Núria Silleras-Fernández (Spanish & Portuguese: CU Boulder)
• Manuel Herrero-Sánchez (Early Modern History: Universidad Pablo de Olavide)
• George Gorse (Art History: Pomona College) 

moderated by:
Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies: CU Boulder)

on 5 February 2021, 10:00am MST [via Zoom]
 This chapter examines the Genoese formal colonization of Corsica starting with Sampiero Corso’s rebellion. Through the rule of the Signoria, the Genoese Republic deployed a full administrative structure in the mid-sixteenth century. Portraying Corsicans as barbaric and rebellious, the Genoese interpreted Corsicans’ so-called ignorance as justification for colonization. In reality, Corsica was a buffer-state between Italy and Spain, Genoa’s only ally. Because of Corsica’s proximity to the Ligurian coast, maintaining Genoa secure entailed transforming the island into a formal colony, including subjugating the population.
 
The chapter follows three main themes. First, it assesses the realpolitik for the Genoese colonization of the island, including the economic pressures of the Republic, the fear of Muslim attacks, the establishing of a colony of “devout” Catholics on the island, and the empowering of Genoa through a colonial organization, excluding local Corsicans from administrative charges. Second, it explores the symbiotic relationship between the Genoese Church and state in assimilating Corsica. Unlike Genoese officers who rarely entertained first-hand rapport with the islanders, religious envoys and missionaries truly came into close contact with them. The Genoese used the narrative deployed by the priests about Corsicans as justification to carry on their colonizing mission. Third, as the loss of commercial hegemony forced Genoa to find other markets to exploit, it examines how colonizing the island was part of a politics that turned the Republic into a Leviathan.

Professor Dauverd is a historian of Early Modern Europe specializing in the Renaissance and the Mediterranean. Her research focuses on socio-cultural relations between Spain, Italy and North Africa during the early modern era (1440-1640). She is the author of, Imperial Ambition in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Genoese Merchants and the Spanish Crown (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and, Church and State in Spanish Italy: Rituals and Political Legitimacy(Cambridge University Press, NY 2020). Dauverd teaches courses on Renaissance Italy, Golden Age Spain, the Mediterranean 600-1600, Early Modern Europe, and Witchcraft. She is a Board Member of the CU Mediterranean Studies Group.

This event is open to the CU Boulder and Front Range community.
Register on or before 3 February via this form or via the link at www.cumediterranean.info.

Sponsors include: Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Humanities, the Center for Western Civilization, Classics, History, French & Italian, Asian Languages and Civilizations, Spanish and Portuguese, Philosophy, Art and Art History, and the College of Arts & Sciences. Administrative support provided by Religious Studies.