Wanderings in Corsica: Its History and Its Heroes. Vol. 2 of 2Gregorovius, Ferdinand
History
Wanderings in Corsica: Its History and Its Heroes. Vol. 2 of 2
Gregorovius, Ferdinand
Corsica (France) -- Description and travel; Corsica (France) -- History
That morning in Aleria, I had a vision of that strange
knight-adventurer, as I had seen him represented in a still
unedited Genoese manuscript of the year 1739: "Accinelli,
Historico-geographico-political Memorials of the Kingdom of Corsica."
This MS. is in the possession of Mr. Santelli of Bastia, who willingly
permitted me to examine it, but refused to let me copy some original
letters, which, however, I procured elsewhere at a later period. The
spirit in which the Genoese has written his history may be gathered
from its motto, which describes the Corsicans thus: _Generatio prava
et exorbitans: Bestiae et universa pecora_—a wicked and depraved
generation—beasts and cattle all. The Genoese has stolen his motto from
the Bible. In his MS. he has painted Theodore in water-colours after
life, in Moorish dress, peruke, and small hat, heavy sabre and cane. He
stands gravely on the sea, and out of it an island is seen to project.
The portrait of Theodore of Corsica may also be found exquisitely drawn
in an old German book of the year 1736, which was published in Frankfort
under the following title: "An Account of the Life and Deeds of Baron
Theodore von Neuhoff, and of the Republic of Genoa so injured by him,
edited by Giovanni di S. Fiorenzo."
The vignette gives a full-length portrait of Theodore in Spanish
costume, with a very white beard. In the background may be seen an un
walled town, probably Bastia, before which are represented in the most
satisfactory style three men, one of whom hangs on a gallows, another
is impaled, and a third is in the act of being quartered.
The appearance of Theodore in Corsica, and his romantic election to
the sovereignty of the island, attracted the attention of all Europe at
the time. This may be gathered from the German book which I have just
referred to, and which made its appearance in the very year in which
that singular event occurred, 1736. As this volume is the only German
book which I have made use of in my Corsican studies, I shall transfer
some of it to these pages.
The following is the description it gives of the island of Corsica:
"Corsica is one of the largest islands of the Mediterranean sea, lying
above Sardinia. It is about twenty-five German miles long, and twelve
broad. On account of its atmosphere, it is not considered very healthy;
yet the land is pretty fertile, although varied by much hill-country,
and having many barren places. The inhabitants are famed for their
bravery and hardihood in war; but they are at the same time said to be
wicked, revengeful, cruel, and rapacious. Moreover, they go by the name
of coarse Corsicans—a character whose fitness I shall not here dispute."
The news of the landing of Theodore was, according to this little book,
communicated in letters from a correspondent in Bastia, dated the 5th
April. We shall quote from these letters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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