[1] The pope's decision, so the story goes, was hastened by a
miracle. A priest, saying mass at the church of Santa Christina at
Bolsena, was troubled, after the consecration, with grave doubts as
to the truth of the doctrine of transubstantiation. His temptation
was removed by the Host beginning to bleed, the blood soaking through
the corporal _into_ the marble of the altar.
[2] Nothing caused more offence to Liberal sentiment in France after
the Restoration than the spectacle of King Louis XVIII. walking and
carrying a candle in the procession through the streets of Paris.
CORRAL (Span. from _corro_, a circle), a word used chiefly in Spanish
America and the United States for an enclosure for cattle and horses,
and also for a defensive circle formed of wagons against attacks from
Indians. It is also used as a verb, meaning to drive into a corral, and
so figuratively to enclose, hem in. The word is probably connected with
the South African Dutch word kraal (q.v.). In Ceylon it is especially
used for an enclosure meant for the capture of wild elephants. In this
last sense of the word the corresponding term in India is keddah (q.v.).
CORREA, a genus of Australian plants belonging to the natural order
Rutaceae, named after the Portuguese botanist Jose Francisco Correa da
Serra. The plants are evergreen shrubs and extremely useful for winter
flowering. They are increased by cuttings, and grown in a cool
greenhouse in rough peaty soil, with a slight addition of loam and sand.
After the plants have done flowering, they should all get a little
artificial warmth, plenty of moisture, and a slight shade, while they
are making their growth, during which period the tips of the young
shoots should be nipped out when 6 or 8 in. long. When the growth is
complete, a half-shady place outdoors during August and September will
be suitable, with protection from parching winds and hot sunshine.
CORREA DA SERRA, JOSE FRANCISCO (1750-1823), Portuguese politician and
man of science, was born at Serpa, in Alemtejo, in 1750. Educated at
Rome, he took orders under the protection of the duke of Alafoes, uncle
of Mary I. of Portugal. In 1777 he returned to Lisbon, where he resided
with his patron, with whose assistance he founded the Portuguese Academy
of Sciences. Of this institution he was named perpetual secretary, and
he received the privilege of publishing its transactions without
reference to any censor whatever. His use of this right brought him into
conflict with the Holy Office; and consequently in 1786 he fled to
France, and remained there till the death of Pedro III., when he again
took up his residence with Alafoes. But having given a lodging in the
palace to a French Girondist, he was forced to flee to England, where he
found a protector in Sir Joseph Banks, and became a member of the Royal
Society. In 1797 he was appointed secretary to the Portuguese embassy,
but a quarrel with the ambassador drove him once more to Paris (1802),
and in that city he resided till 1813, when he crossed over to New York.
In 1816 he was made Portuguese minister-plenipotentiary at Washington,
and in 1820 he was recalled home, appointed a member of the financial
council, and elected to a seat in the Cortes. Three years after, and in
the same year with the fall of the constitutional government, he died.
Correa da Serra ranks high as a botanist, though he published no great
special work. His principal claim to renown is the _Coleccao de livros
ineditos da historia Portugueza_, (4 vols., 1790-1816), an invaluable
selection of documents, exceedingly well edited.
CORREGGIO, or COREGGIO, the name ordinarily given to Antonio Allegri
(1494-1534), the celebrated Italian painter, one of the most vivid and
impulsive inventors in expression and pose and the most consummate
executants. The external circumstances of his life have been very
diversely stated by different writers, and the whole of what has been
narrated regarding him, even waiving the question of its authenticity,
is but meagre.
The first controversy is as to his origin. Some say that he was born of
poor and lowly parents; others, that his family was noble and rich.
Neither account is accurate. His father was Pellegrino Allegri, a
tradesman in comfortable circumstances, living at Correggio, a small
city in the territory of Modena; his mother Bernardina Piazzoli degli
Aromani, also of a creditable family of moderate means. Antonio was born
at Correggio, and was carefully educated. He was not (as has been often
alleged) strictly self-taught in his art--a supposition which the
internal evidence of his pictures must of itself refute. They show a
knowledge of optics, perspective, architecture, sculpture and anatomy.
The last-named science he studied under Dr Giovanni Battista Lombardi,
whom he is believed to have represented in the portrait currently named
"II Medico del Correggio" (Correggio's physician). It is concluded that
he learned the first elements of design from his uncle, Lorenzo Allegri,
a painter of moderate ability at Correggio, and from Antonio Bartolotti,
named Tognino, and that he afterwards went to the school of Francesco
Ferrari Bianchi (named Frare), and perhaps to that of the successors of
Andrea Mantegna in Mantua. He is said to have learned modelling along
with the celebrated Begarelli at Parma; and it has even been suggested
that, in the "Pieta" executed by Begarelli for the church of Santa
Margherita, the three finest figures are the work of Correggio, but, as
the group appears to have been completed three years after the painter's
death, there is very little plausibility in this story. Another
statement connecting Begarelli with Correggio is probably true, namely,
that the sculptor executed models in relief for the figures which the
painter had to design on the cupolas of the churches in Parma. This was
necessarily an expensive item, and it has been cited as showing that
Correggio must have been at least tolerably well off,--an inference
further supported by the fact that he used the most precious and costly
colours, and generally painted on fine canvases or sometimes on sheets
of copper.
The few certain early works of Correggio show a rapid progression
towards the attainment of his own original style. Though he never
achieved any large measure of reputation during his brief lifetime, and
was perhaps totally unknown beyond his own district of country, he found
a sufficiency of employers, and this from a very youthful age. One of
his early pictures, painted in 1514 when he was nineteen or twenty years
old, is a large altar-piece commissioned for the Franciscan convent at
Carpi, representing the Virgin enthroned, with Saints; it indicates a
predilection for the style of Leonardo da Vinci, and has certainly even
greater freedom than similarly early works of Raphael. This picture is
now in the Dresden gallery. Another painting of Correggio's youth is the
"Arrest of Christ." A third is an Ancona (or triple altar-piece--the
"Repose in Egypt, with Sts Bartholomew and John") in the church of the
Conventuali at Correggio, showing the transition from the painter's
first to his second style. Between 1514 and 1520 Correggio worked much,
both in oil and in fresco, for churches and convents. In 1521 he began
his famous fresco of the "Ascension of Christ," on the cupola of the
Benedictine church of San Giovanni in Parma; here the Redeemer is
surrounded by the twelve apostles and the four doctors of the church,
supported by a host of wingless cherub boys amid the clouds. This he
finished in 1524, and soon afterwards undertook his still vaster work on
another cupola, that of the cathedral of the same city, presenting the
"Assumption of the Virgin," amid an unnumbered host of saints and angels
rapt in celestial joy. It occupied him up to 1530. The astounding
boldness of scheme in these works, especially as regards their incessant
and audacious foreshortenings--the whole mass of figures being portrayed
as in the clouds, and as seen from below--becomes all the more startling
when we recall to mind the three facts--that Correggio had apparently
never seen any of the masterpieces of Raphael or his other great
predecessors and contemporaries, in Rome, Florence, or other chief
centres of art; that he was the first artist who ever undertook the
painting of a large cupola; and that he not only went at once to the
extreme of what can be adventured in foreshortening, but even
forestalled in this attempt the mightiest geniuses of an elder
generation--the "Last Judgment" of Michelangelo, for instance, not
having been begun earlier than 1533 (although the ceiling of the Sixtine
chapel, in which foreshortening plays a comparatively small part, dates
from 1508 to 1512). The cupola of the cathedral has neither skylight nor
windows, but only light reflected from below; the frescoes, some
portions of which were ultimately supplied by Giorgio Gandini, are now
dusky with the smoke of tapers, and parts of them, in the cathedral and
in the church of St John, have during many past years been peeling off.
The violent foreshortenings were not, in the painter's own time, the
object of unmixed admiration; some satirist termed the groups a
"guazzetto di rane," or "hash of frogs." This was not exactly the
opinion of Titian, who is reported to have said, on seeing the pictures,
and finding them lightly esteemed by local dignitaries, "Reverse the
cupola, and fill it with gold, and even that will not be its money's
worth." Annibale Caracci and the Eclectics generally evinced their
zealous admiration quite as ardently. Parma is the only city which
contains frescoes by Correggio. For the paintings of the cupola of San
Giovanni he received the moderate sum of 472 sequins; for those of the
cathedral, much less proportionately, 350. On these amounts he had to
subsist, himself and his family, and to provide the colours, for about
ten years, having little time for further work meanwhile. Parma was in
an exceedingly unsettled and turbulent condition during some of the
years covered by Correggio's labours there, veering between the
governmental ascendancy of the French and of the Pope, with wars and
rumours of wars, alarms, tumults and pestilence.
Other leading works by Correggio are the following:--The frescoes in the
Camera di San Paolo (the abbess's saloon) in the monastery of S.
Lodovico at Parma, painted towards 1519 in fresco,--"Diana returning
from the Chase," with auxiliary groups of lovely and vivacious boys of
more than life size, in sixteen oval compartments. In the National
Gallery, London, the "Ecce Homo," painted probably towards 1520
(authenticity not unquestioned); and "Cupid, Mercury and Venus," the
latter more especially a fine example. The oil-painting of the Nativity
named "Night" ("La Notte"), for which 40 ducats and 208 livres of old
Reggio coin were paid, the nocturnal scene partially lit up by the
splendour proceeding from the divine Infant. This work was undertaken at
Reggio in 1522 for Alberto Pratoneris, and is now in the Dresden
gallery. The oil-painting of St Jerome, termed also "Day" ("Il Giorno"),
as contrasting with the above-named "Night." Jerome is here with the
Madonna and Child, the Magdalene, and two Angels, of whom one points out
to the Infant a passage in the book held by the Saint. This was painted
for Briseida Bergonzi from 1527 onwards, and was remunerated by 400 gold
imperials, some cartloads of faggots and measures of wheat, and a fat
pig. It is now in the gallery at Parma. The "Magdalene lying at the
entrance of her Cavern": this small picture (only 18 in. wide) was
bought by Augustus III. of Saxony for 6000 louis d'or, and is in
Dresden. In the same gallery, the two works designated "St George"
(painted towards 1532) and "St Sebastian." In the Parma gallery, the
Madonna named "della Scala," a fresco which was originally in a recess
of the Porta Romana, Parma; also the Madonna "della Scodella" (of the
bowl, which is held by the Virgin--the subject being the Repose in
Egypt): it was executed for the church of San Sepolcro. Both these works
date towards 1526. In the church of the Annunciation, "Parma," a fresco
of the Annunciation, now all but perished. Five celebrated pictures
painted or begun in 1532,--"Venus," "Leda," "Danae," "Vice," and
"Virtue": the "Leda," with figures of charming girls bathing, is now in
the Berlin gallery, and is a singularly delightful specimen of the
master. In Vienna, "Jupiter and Io." In the Louvre, "Jupiter and
Antiope," and the "Mystic Marriage of St Catharine." In the Naples
Museum, the "Madonna Reposing," commonly named "La Zingarella," or the
"Madonna del Coniglio" (Gipsy-girl, or Madonna of the Rabbit). On some
of his pictures Correggio signed "Lieto," as a synonym of "Allegri."
About forty works can be confidently assigned to him, apart from a
multitude of others probably or manifestly spurious.
The famous story that this great but isolated artist was once, after
long expectancy, gratified by seeing a picture of Raphael's, and closed
an intense scrutiny of it by exclaiming "Anch' io son pittore" (I too am
a painter), cannot be traced to any certain source. It has nevertheless
a great internal air of probability; and the most enthusiastic devotee
of the Umbrian will admit that in technical _bravura_, in enterprizing,
gifted, and consummated execution, not Raphael himself could have
assumed to lord it over Correggio.
In 1520 Correggio married Girolama Merlino, a young lady of Mantua, who
brought him a good dowry. She was but sixteen years of age, very lovely,
and is said by tradition to have been the model of his Zingarella. They
lived in great harmony together, and had a family of four children. She
died in 1529. Correggio himself expired at his native place on the 5th
of March 1534. His illness was a short one, and has by some authors been
termed pleurisy. Others, following Vasari, allege that it was brought on
by his having had to carry home a sum of money, 50 scudi, which had been
paid to him for one of his pictures, and paid in copper coin to
humiliate and annoy him; he carried the money himself, to save expense,
from Parma to Correggio on a hot day, and his fatigue and exhaustion led
to the mortal illness. In this curious tale there is no symptom of
authenticity, unless its very singularity, and the unlikelihood of its
being invented without any foundation at all, may be allowed to count
for something. He is said to have died with Christian piety; and his
eulogists (speaking apparently from intuition rather than record) affirm
that he was a good citizen, an affectionate son and father, fond and
observant of children, a sincere and obliging friend, pacific,
beneficent, grateful, unassuming, without meanness, free from envy and
tolerant of criticism. He was buried with some pomp in the Arrivabene
chapel, in the cloister of the Franciscan church at Correggio.
Regarding the art of Correggio from an intellectual or emotional point
of view, his supreme gift may be defined as suavity,--a vivid,
spontaneous, lambent play of the affections, a heartfelt inner grace
which fashions the forms and features, and beams like soft and glancing
sunshine in the expressions. We see lovely or lovable souls clothed in
bodies or corresponding loveliness, which are not only physically
charming, but are so informed with the spirit within as to become one
with that in movement and gesture. In these qualities of graceful
naturalness, not heightened into the sacred or severe, and of joyous
animation, in momentary smiles and casual living turns of head or limb,
Correggio undoubtedly carried the art some steps beyond anything it had
previously attained, and he remains to this day the unsurpassed or
unequalled model of pre-eminence. From a technical point of view, his
supreme gift--even exceeding his prodigious faculty in foreshortening
and the like--is chiaroscuro, the power of modifying every tone, from
bright light to depth of darkness, with the sweetest and most subtle
gradations, all being combined into harmonious unity. In this again he
far distanced all predecessors, and defied subsequent competition. His
colour also is luminous and precious, perfectly understood and blended;
it does not rival the superb richness or deep intense glow of the
Venetians, but on its own showing is a perfect achievement, in exact
keeping with his powers in chiaroscuro and in vital expression. When we
come, however, to estimate painters according to their dramatic faculty,
their power of telling a story or impressing a majestic truth, their
range and strength of mind, we find the merits of Correggio very feeble
in comparison with those of the highest masters, and even of many who
without, being altogether great have excelled in these particular
qualities. Correggio never _means_ much, and often, in subjects where
fulness of significance is demanded, he means provokingly little. He
expressed his own miraculous facility by saying that he always had his
thoughts at the end of his pencil; in truth, they were often thoughts
rather of the pencil and its controlling hand than of the teeming brain.
He has the faults of his excellences--sweetness lapsing into mawkishness
and affectation, empty in elevated themes and lasciviously voluptuous in
those of a sensuous type, rapid and forceful action lapsing into
posturing and self-display, fineness and sinuosity of contour lapsing
into exaggeration and mannerism, daring design lapsing into
incorrectness. No great master is more dangerous than Correggio to his
enthusiasts; round him the misdeeds of conventionalists and the follies
of connoisseurs cluster with peculiar virulence, and almost tend to
blind to his real and astonishing excellences those practitioners or
lovers of painting who, while they can acknowledge the value of
_technique_, are still more devoted to greatness of soul, and grave or
elevated invention, as expressed in the form of art.
Correggio was the head of the school of painting of Parma, which forms
one main division of the Lombardic school. He had more imitators than
pupils. Of the latter one can name with certainty only his son Pomponio,
who was born in 1521 and died at an advanced age; Francesco Capelli;
Giovanni Giarola; Antonio Bernieri (who, being also a native of the town
of Correggio, has sometimes been confounded with Allegri); and Bernardo
Gatti, who ranks as the best of all. The Parmigiani (Mazzuoli) were his
most highly distinguished imitators.
A large number of books have been written concerning Correggio. The
principal modern authority is Conrado Ricci, _Life and Times of
Correggio_ (1896); see also Pungileoni, _Memorie storiche di Antonio
Allegri_ (1817); Julius Meyer, _Antonio Allegri_ (1870, English
translation, 1876); H. Thode, _Correggio_ (1898); Bigi, _Vita ed
opere_ (1881); Colnaghi, _Correggio Frescoes at Parma_ (1845); Fagan,
_Works of Correggio_ (1873); and T. Sturge Moore, _Correggio_ (1906)
(a work which includes some adverse criticism on the views of Bernhard
Berenson, in his _Study of Italian Art_, 1901, and elsewhere).
(W. M. R.)
CORRENTI, CESARE (1815-1888), Italian revolutionist and politician, was
born on the 3rd of January 1815, at Milan, of a poor but noble family.
While employed in the public debt administration, he flooded Lombardy
with revolutionary pamphlets designed to excite hatred against the
Austrians, and in 1848 proposed the general abstention of the Milanese
from smoking, which gave rise to the insurrection known as the Five
Days. During the revolt he was one of the leading spirits of the
operations of the insurgents. Until the reoccupation of Milan by the
Austrians he was secretary-general of the provisional government, but
afterwards he fled to Piedmont, whence he again distributed his
revolutionary pamphlets throughout Lombardy, earning a precarious
livelihood by journalism. Elected deputy in 1849, he worked strenuously
for the national cause, supporting Cavour in his Crimean policy,
although he belonged to the Left. After the annexation of Lombardy he
was made commissioner for the liquidation of the Lombardo-Venetian debt,
in 1860 was appointed councillor of state, and received various other
public positions, especially in connexion with the railway and financial
administration. He veered round to the Right, and in 1867 and again in
1869 he held the portfolio of education; he played an important part in
the events consequent upon the occupation of Rome, and helped to draft
the Law of Guarantees. As minister of education he suppressed the
theological faculties in the Italian universities, but eventually
resigned office and allied himself with the Left again on account of
conservative opposition to his reforms. His defection from the Right
ultimately assured the advent of the Left to power in 1876; and while
declining office, he remained chief adviser of Agostino Depretis until
the latter's death. On several occasions--notably in connexion with the
redemption of the Italian railways, and with the Paris exhibition of
1878--he acted as representative of the government. In 1877 he was given
the lucrative appointment of secretary of the order of Saints Maurice
and Lazarus by Depretis, and in 1886 was created senator. He died at
Rome on the 4th of October 1888. He left a considerable body of writings
on a variety of subjects, none of which is of exceptional merit.
See E. Massarani, _Cesare Correnti nella vita e nelle opere_ (1890);
and L. Carpi, _Il Risorgimento italiano_, vol. iv. (Milan, 1888).
(L. V.*)
CORRESPONDENCE (from med. scholastic Lat. _correspondentia_,
_correspondere_, compounded of Lat. _cum_, with, and _respondere_, to
answer; cf. Fr. _correspondence_), strictly a mutual agreement or
fitness of parts or character, that which fits or answers to a
requirement in another, or more generally a similarity or parallelism.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the word was frequently applied to
relations and communications between states. It is now, outside special
applications, chiefly applied to the interchange of communications by
letter, or to the letters themselves, between private individuals,
states, business houses, or from individuals to the press. The "doctrine
of correspondence or correspondences," one of the leading tenets of
Swedenborgianism, is that every natural object corresponds to and
typifies some spiritual principle or truth, this being the only key to
the true interpretation of Scripture. In mathematics, the term
"correspondence" implies the existence of some relation between the
members of two groups of objects. If each object of one group
corresponds to one and only one object of the second, and vice versa,
then a one-to-one correspondence exists between the groups. If each
object of the first group corresponds to [beta] objects of the second
group, and each object of the second group corresponds to a objects of
the first group, then an [alpha] to [beta] correspondence exists between
the two groups. For examples of the application of this notion see
CURVE.
CORREZE, a department of south-central France, formed from the southern
portion of the old province of Limousin, bounded N. by the departments
of Haute-Vienne and Creuse, E, by Puy-de-Dome, S.E. by Cantal, S. by
Lot, and W. by Dordogne. Area, 2273 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 317,430. Correze
is situated on the western fringe of the central plateau of France. It
forms a hilly tableland elevated in the east and north, and intersected
by numerous fertile river valleys, trending for the most part to the
south and south-west. The highest points, many of which exceed 3000 ft.,
are found in the north, where the Plateau de Millevaches separates the
basins of the Loire and the Garonne. Except for a small district in the
extreme north, which is watered by the Vienne, Correze belongs to the
basin of the Garonne. The Dordogne waters its south-eastern region. The
Correze, from which the department takes its name, and the Vezere, of
which the Correze is the chief tributary, rise in the Plateau de
Millevaches, flow south-west, and unite to the west of Brive. The
climate of Correze is, in general, cold, damp and variable, except in
the south-west, where it is mild and agreeable. The majority of the
inhabitants live by agriculture. About one-third of the department is
arable land, most of which is found in the south-west. Rye, buckwheat
and wheat (in the order named) are the most abundant cereals. Hemp, flax
and tobacco are also grown. The more elevated regions of the north and
east are given over to pasture, sheep being specially numerous on the
Plateau de Millevaches. Pigs and goats are reared to a considerable
extent; and poultry-farming and cheese-making are much practised. The
vineyards of the neighbourhood of Brive produce wine of medium quality.
Chestnuts, largely used as an article of food, walnuts and cider-apples
are the chief fruits. Coal in small quantities, slate, building-stone
and other stone are the mineral products, and clay, used in potteries
and tile-works, is also worked. The most important industrial
establishment is the government manufactory of fire-arms at Tulle. There
are flour-mills, breweries, oil-works, saw-mills and dye-works; and hats
(Bort), coarse woollens, silk, preserved foods, wooden shoes, chairs,
paper and leather are manufactured. Coal and raw materials for textile
industries are leading imports; live stock and agricultural products are
the chief exports. The department is served by the Orleans railway, and
the Dordogne is navigable. The department is divided into the
arrondissements of Tulle, Brive and Ussel, containing 29 cantons and 289
communes. It belongs to the archdiocese of Bourges, the region of the
XII. army corps, and the _Academie_ (educational division) of
Clermont-Ferrand. Its court of appeal is at Limoges. Tulle, the capital,
and Brive are the principal towns of the department. Uzerche is a
picturesque old town on the Vezere, with a Romanesque church, old
houses, a gate and other remains of medieval fortifications. At Aubazine
(or Obazine) there is a Romanesque church of the 12th century, formerly
belonging to the celebrated Cistercian abbey, of which Etienne "of
Obazine" (d. 1159 and subsequently beatified) was the founder and first
abbot. It contains the fine sculptured tomb of the founder. To the same
style belong the abbey church of Beaulieu, the south portal of which is
elaborately carved, the abbey church of Meymac, and the abbey church of
Vigeois. Treignac, with its church, bridge and ramparts of the 15th
century, and Turenne, dominated by the ruins of the castle of the famous
family of that name, are ancient and interesting towns. The dolmen at
Espartignac and the cromlech of Aubazine are the chief megalithic
remains in the department. A Roman eagle and other antiquities have been
found close to Ussel, which at the end of the 16th century became the
centre of the duchy of Ventadour.
CORRIB, LOUGH, a lake of western Ireland, in the counties Galway and
Mayo. It lies N.W. and S.E., and is 27 m. long, including a long
projecting arm at the north-west. The extreme breadth is 7 m., but the
outline is extremely irregular, and the lough narrows near the centre to
a few hundred yards. Lough Corrib is very shallow, hardly exceeding 30
ft. in depth at any point, and it is covered with islands, of which
there are some 300. It lies 29 ft. above sea-level, and drains by the
short river Corrib to Galway Bay. The large Lough Mask lies to its north
and is connected with it by a partly subterranean channel. The scenery
is pleasant, but the shores are low, except at the north-west, where the
wild foothills of Joyce's Country rise.
CORRIDOR (Fr. _corridor_, from Ital. _corridore_, Med. Lat.
_corridorium_, a "running-place," from _currere_, to run), a main
passage in a large building, on which various apartments open. In public
offices, prisons, workhouses, hospitals, &c., the corridors are usually
of severe simplicity; but in mansions and palaces large corridors
(galleries) are often adorned with works of art, whence comes the term
"picture gallery" applied to many collections. The term "corridor
carriage" is applied to the modern style of railway carriage in which a
narrow passage connects the separate compartments, the object being to
combine a certain degree of privacy for the traveller with access from
one compartment to another whilst the train is in motion.
CORRIE (Gaelic _coire_, cauldron; hence whirlpool, or circular hollow),
a term used in the Highlands of Scotland for a steep-sided, rounded
hollow in a mountain-side, from the lower part of which a stream usually
issues as the outlet of a small lake ponded by glacial debris.
Corrie-lakes are common in all glaciated mountain regions. (See CIRQUE.)
CORRIENTES, a north-eastern province of the Argentine Republic, and part
of a region known as the Argentine Mesopotamia, bounded N. by Paraguay,
N.E. by Misiones (territory), E. by Brazil, S. by Entre Rios, and W. by
Santa Fe and the Chaco. Pop. (1895) 239,618; (1904 estimate) 299,479;
area, 32,580 sq. m. Nearly one-third of the province is covered by
swamps and lagoons, or is so little above their level as to be
practically unfit for permanent settlement unless drained. The Ibera
lagoon (c. 8500 sq. m., according to the _Argentine Year Book_ for
1905-1906) includes a large part of the central and north-eastern
departments, and the Maloya lagoon covers a large part of the
north-western departments. Several streams flowing into the Parana and
Uruguay have their sources in these lagoons, the Ibera sending its
waters in both directions. The southern districts of the province,
however, are high and rolling, similar to the neighbouring departments
of Entre Rios, and are admirably adapted to grazing and agriculture. The
north-eastern corner is also high, but it is broken by ranges of hills
and is heavily forested, like the adjacent territory of Misiones. The
climate on the higher plains is sub-tropical, but in the northern swamps
it is essentially tropical. Corrientes is the hottest province of
Argentina, notwithstanding its large area of water and forest. The
exports include cattle and horses, jerked beef, hides, timber and
firewood, cereals and fruit. The principal towns are Corrientes, the
capital; Goya, a flourishing agricultural town (1906 estimate, 7000) on
a side channel of the Parana, 150 m. S. of Corrientes, the seat of a
modern normal school and the market-town of a prosperous district; Bella
Vista (pop. 1906 estimate, 3000), prettily situated on the Parana, 80 m.
S. of Corrientes, the commercial centre of a large district; Esquina
(pop. 1906 estimate, 3000) on the Parana at the mouth of the Corrientes
river, 86 m. S. of Goya, which exports timber and firewood from the
neighbouring forest of Payubre; Monte Caseros (pop. 1906 estimate, 4000)
on the Uruguay river, from which cattle are shipped to Brazil, the
eastern terminus of the Argentine North-Eastern railway (which crosses
the province in a N.W. direction to Corrientes), and a station on the
East Argentine railway (which runs northward to Paso de Los Libres,
opposite Uruguayana, Brazil and to San Tome, and southward to a junction
with the Entre Rios railways). A considerable district on the upper
Uruguay was once occupied by prosperous Jesuit missions, all of which
fell into decay and ruins after the expulsion of that order from the
Spanish possessions in 1767. The population of the province is composed
very largely of Indian and mixed races, and Guarani is still the
language of the country people.
CORRIENTES (_San Juan de Corrientes_), a city and river port, and the
capital of the above province, in the north of the Argentine Republic,
on the left bank of the Parana river, 20 m. below the junction of the
Upper Parana and Paraguay, and 832 m. N. of Buenos Aires. The name is
derived from the _siete corrientes_ (seven currents) caused by rocks in
the bed of the river just above the town. Pop. (1895) 16,129; (1907
local estimate) 30,172, largely Indian and of mixed descent. The
appearance of Corrientes is not equal to its commercial and political
importance, the buildings both public and private being generally poor
and antiquated. There are four churches, the more conspicuous of which
are the Matriz and San Francisco. The government house, originally a
Jesuit college, is an antiquated structure surrounding an open court
(_patio_). There is a national college. The commercial importance of
Corrientes results from its unusually favourable situation near the
confluence of the Upper Parana and Paraguay, and a short distance below
the mouth of the Bermejo. The navigation of the Upper Parana and Bermejo
rivers begins here, and freight for the Upper Parana and Chaco rivers is
transhipped at Corrientes, which practically controls the trade of the
extensive regions tributary to them. Corrientes is the western terminus
of the Argentine North-Eastern railway, which crosses the province S.E.
to Monte Caseros, where it connects with the East Argentine line running
S. to Concordia and N. to San Tome. The principal exports are timber,
cereals, mate, sugar, tobacco, hides, jerked beef, fruit and quebracho.
CORRIGAN, MICHAEL AUGUSTINE (1839-1902), third archbishop of the Roman
Catholic archdiocese of New York, in the United States, was born in
Newark, New Jersey, on the 13th of August 1839. In 1859 he graduated at
Mount St Mary's College, Emmittsburg, Maryland, and began his studies
for the priesthood as the first of the twelve students with whom the
American College at Rome was opened. On the 19th of September 1863 he
was ordained priest, and in 1864 obtained the degree of D.D. Returning
to America, he was appointed professor of Dogmatic Theology and Sacred
Scripture, and director of the ecclesiastical seminary of Seton Hall
College at South Orange, New Jersey; soon afterwards he was made
vice-president of the institution; and in 1868 became president,
succeeding Rev. Bernard J. M'Quaid (b. 1823), the first Roman Catholic
bishop of Rochester. In October 1868 Corrigan became vicar-general of
Newark, a diocese then including all the state of New Jersey. When
Archbishop Bayley was transferred to the see of Baltimore in 1873, Pius
IX. appointed Corrigan bishop of Newark. In 1876 he resigned the
presidency of Seton Hall College. In 1880 Bishop Corrigan was made
coadjutor, with the right of succession, to Cardinal McCloskey,
archbishop of New York, under the title of archbishop of Petra; and
thereafter nearly all the practical work of the archdiocese fell to his
hands. He was at the time the youngest archbishop in the Catholic Church
in America. On the death of Cardinal McCloskey in 1885 Archbishop
Corrigan became metropolitan of the diocese of New York. He died on the
5th of May 1902. He was a scholar of much erudition, with great power of
administrative organization, simple, generous and kindly in character.
The earlier years of his archiepiscopate were disturbed by his
controversy with Edward McGlynn (1839-1900), a New York priest (and a
fellow-student with Corrigan at Rome), who disapproved of parochial
schools, refused to go to Rome for examination, and was excommunicated
in July 1887, but returned to the church five years later.
See _Michael Augustine Corrigan: A Memorial_, with biographical sketch
by John A. Mooney (New York, 1902).
CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE, MERCURIC CHLORIDE, PERCHLORIDE OF MERCURY (HgCl2),
a white solid obtained by the action of chlorine on mercury or calomel,
by the addition of hydrochloric acid to a hot, strong solution of
mercurous nitrate, Hg2(NO3)2 + 4HCl = 2HgCl2 + 2H2O + 2NO2, and,
commercially, by heating a mixture of mercuric sulphate and common salt,
the mercuric chloride subliming and being condensed in the form of small
rhombic crystals. It melts at 288 deg., and boils at 303 deg.; it is
sparingly soluble in cold water, more so in hot; it is very soluble in
alcohol and ether. It is soluble in hydrochloric acid forming compounds
such as HgCl2.2HCl, 3HgCl2.4HCl, 2HgCl2.HCl, according to the
temperature and concentration; it also forms double salts with many
chlorides; _sal alembroth_, 2NH4Cl.HgCl2.H2O, is the compound with
ammonium chloride. It absorbs ammonia to form HgCl2.NH3, which may be
distilled without decomposition. Various oxychlorides are formed by
digesting corrosive sublimate with mercuric oxide. Corrosive sublimate
has important applications in medicine--as an astringent, stimulant,
caustic and antiseptic (see MERCURY).
CORRUPT PRACTICES, a term used in English election law, as defined by
the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883, to include
bribery, treating, undue influence, personation, and aiding, abetting,
counselling and procuring personation. Bribery and corruption at
elections have been the subject of much legislation, statutes for their
prevention have been passed in 1729, 1809, 1827, 1842, 1854, 1868 and
1883.
By the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 (which
incorporated the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act 1854, an act that
repealed all former legislation) the following persons are to be deemed
guilty of _bribery_:--
1. Every person who shall directly or indirectly, by himself or by any
other person on his behalf, give, lend, &c., or offer, promise, or
promise to procure, &c., any money or valuable consideration to or for
any voter or any other person in order to induce any voter to vote or
refrain from voting, or shall corruptly do any such act on account of
such voter having voted or refrained from voting at any election.
2. Every person who shall similarly give or procure or promise, &c.,
any office, place or employment to or for any voter or other person in
order to induce him to vote, &c.
3. Every person who shall make any gift, loan, promise, &c., as
aforesaid to any person to induce such person to procure the return of
any person to serve in parliament or the vote of any voter.
4. Every person who shall, in consequence of such gift, procure or
engage, promise or endeavour to procure the return of any person or the
vote of any voter.
5. Every person who shall pay any money with the intent that it should
be spent in bribery, or who shall pay money in repayment of any money
wholly or in part expended in bribery.
6. Every person who before or during an election shall receive or
contract for any money, &c., for voting, or refraining, or agreeing to
vote or to refrain from voting.
7. Every person who, after the election, receives money, &c., on account
of any person having voted or refrained, &c.
_Treating._--Any person who corruptly by himself or by any other person
either before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly gives
or provides, or pays wholly or in part the expense of giving or
providing any meat, drink or entertainment, or provision to or for any
person in order to be elected, or for being elected, or for the purpose
of corruptly influencing such person to give or refrain from giving his
vote at an election, &c., shall be deemed guilty of treating, and every
elector corruptly accepting such meat, drink, &c., shall also be guilty
of treating.
_Undue Influence._--Every person who shall directly or indirectly make
use of or threaten to make use of any force, violence, &c., or inflict
or threaten to inflict any temporal or spiritual injury, &c., upon any
person to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting,
or who shall by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent device or
contrivance impede or prevent the exercise of the franchise of any
elector, or shall thereby compel, induce, &c., any elector to give or
refrain from giving his vote, shall be guilty of undue influence.
Illegal, as distinguished from "corrupt," practices are certain acts and
omissions in regard to an election which are now prohibited, whether
done or omitted, honestly or dishonestly. They may be classified under
the following heads:--(1) Acts which are illegal practices by whomsoever
committed. These are as follows: Payment or receipt or contracts to pay
or receive money for conveyance of voters to or from the poll, on
account of any committee room beyond the number allowed by the act, or
to an elector for use of house or land to exhibit addresses, &c., or for
exhibition by him (otherwise than in the ordinary course of his business
of advertising agent) of such addresses, &c.; payment of election
expenses otherwise than by or through the election agent, and payment
otherwise than to a candidate or election agent of money provided by any
other person for election expenses; voting or procuring to vote of any
person prohibited from voting, if the person offending knows of the
prohibition; knowingly publishing a false statement that a candidate has
withdrawn, or publishing with a view to affect the return of a candidate
a false statement as to his character or conduct. (2) Acts and omissions
which are illegal practices in the case of candidates and agents only,
being breaches of duties specially imposed on them. These are the
payment or incurring expenses in excess of the maximum authorized by the
legislature, the omitting without lawful excuse to make a return and
declaration of expenses in due time, and the payment by an election
agent of any election expense amounting to 40s. not vouched by bill of
particulars and receipt, of any claim for expenses not sent in in due
time, or of any such claim after the time allowed for payment thereof.
(3) Acts which are illegal practices when done by a candidate or agent,
and are a minor offence when done by any one else. These are illegal
payments, employment and hiring, and printing, publishing or posting a
bill, placard or poster not bearing on its face the name of the printer
or publisher. Illegal payments are knowingly providing money for
prohibited payments or expenses in excess of the maximum, corruptly
inducing a candidate to withdraw by payment or promise of payment (the
candidate so induced being guilty of the like offence), paying or
agreeing to pay for torches, flags, banners, cockades, ribbons and
other marks of distinction (the receiver being guilty of the like
offence if he is aware of the illegality). Illegal employment is the
employment for payment or promise of payment of persons beyond the
number allowed by the legislature or for purposes not authorized. The
employe is guilty of the like offence if he knows of the illegality.
Illegal hiring is the letting or lending, or the employing, hiring,
borrowing or using to carry voters to the poll of stage, or hackney
carriages, or horses, or of carriages or horses ordinarily let for hire,
and the hiring of committee rooms in premises licensed for the sale of
intoxicants, in a club (not being a permanent political club) where
intoxicants are sold, in premises where refreshments are ordinarily
sold, or in a public elementary school in receipt of a parliamentary
grant. Personation and aiding, abetting, &c., of personation are
felonies punishable with two years' imprisonment with hard labour. All
other corrupt practices are indictable misdemeanours (in Scotland,
crimes and offences) punishable with one year's imprisonment, with or
without hard labour, or a fine not exceeding L200. Conviction of any
corrupt practice also renders the offender incapable for seven years of
being registered as an elector, or voting at any election, parliamentary
or other, in the United Kingdom, or of holding any public or judicial
office, or of being elected to or sitting in the House of Commons; and
any such office or seat held by him at the time is vacated. In the case
of a parliamentary candidate, if an election court finds that there has
been treating or undue influence by him, or any other corrupt practice
with his knowledge or consent, he becomes incapable of ever being
elected for the same constituency, and incurs the like incapacities as
if he had been convicted on indictment; if it is found by the election
court that he has been guilty by his agents of a corrupt practice, he
becomes incapable for seven years of being elected for the same
constituency. Illegal practices are offences punishable on summary
conviction with a fine not exceeding L100, and with five years'
incapacity for being registered or voting as a parliamentary elector, or
an elector to public office within the county or borough where the
offence was committed. Illegal payments, employment and hiring, and
printing and publishing of bills, &c., not bearing the printer's or
publisher's name, are, when committed by any one who is not a candidate
or agent, offences punishable on summary conviction with a fine not
exceeding L100, but carry with them no incapacities. Where an election
court finds that any illegal practice has been committed with the
knowledge or consent of a parliamentary candidate, he becomes incapable
for seven years of being elected to or sitting in the House of Commons
for the same constituency. He incurs the like incapacity, limited to the
duration of the parliament for which the election was held, if the
election court finds that he was guilty by his agents of an illegal
practice. A prosecution for any of the above offences cannot be
instituted more than a year after the offence was committed, unless an
inquiry by election commissioners takes place, in which case it may be
instituted at any time within two years from the commission of the
offence, not being more than three months after the date of the
commissioners' report.
The law as to corrupt and illegal practices, as above stated, applies
equally to parliamentary, municipal, county and parish council
elections. Incapacities corresponding to those incurred by parliamentary
candidates found guilty by an election court are incurred by municipal
and other candidates in the like case, e.g. a municipal candidate found
personally guilty of a corrupt practice is incapacitated forever, and a
candidate found guilty by his agents is incapacitated for three years
from holding corporate office in the borough.
See Rogers, _On Elections_, 3 vols.; Fraser, _Law of Parliamentary
Elections_.
CORRY, a city of Erie county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 37 m. S.E. of Erie,
in the N.W. part of the state, at an elevation of about 1430 ft. Pop.
(1890) 5677; (1900) 5369 (671 foreign-born); (1910) 5991. It is served
by the Erie and the Pennsylvania railways. Corry is situated in the
midst of a fine farming region, which is rich in petroleum and natural
gas, and is widely known for its mineral springs. One mile W. of the
city is a state fish hatchery, and there are fine trout streams in the
neighbourhood. Among the city's manufactures are steel, engines,
locomotives, radiators, shovels, bricks, flour, furniture and leather.
Corry was settled in 1860, and was incorporated as a borough in 1863 and
as a city in 1866.
CORSAIR (through the Fr. from the Med. Lat. _cursarius_, a pirate;
_cursus_, or _cursa_, from _currere_, to run, being Late Latin for a
plundering foray), the name given by the Mediterranean peoples to the
privateers of the Barbary coast who plundered the shipping of Christian
nations; they were not strictly pirates, as they were commissioned by
their respective governments, but the word came to be synonymous, in
English, with "pirate." The French word _corsaire_ is still used for
"privateer," and _guerre de course_ is applied to the use in naval
warfare of "commerce-destroyers." (See PIRATE, BARBARY PIRATES and
PRIVATEER.)
CORSICA (Fr. _Corse_), a large island of the Mediterranean, forming a
department of France. It is situated immediately to the north of
Sardinia (from which it is separated by the narrow strait of Bonifacio),
between 41 deg. 21' and 43 deg. N. and 8 deg. 30' and 9 deg. 30' E.
Area, 3367 sq.m. Pop. (1906) 291,160. Corsica lies within 54 m. W. of
the coast of Tuscany, 98 m. S. of Genoa and 106 m. S.E. of the French
coast at Nice. The extreme length of the island is 114 m. and its
breadth 52 m. The greater part of the surface of Corsica is occupied by
forest-clad mountains, whose central ridge describes a curve from N.W.
to S.W., presenting its convexity towards the E. Secondary chains
diverge in all directions from this main range, enclosing small basins
both geographically and socially isolated; on the west and south of the
island they either terminate abruptly on the shore or run out to a great
distance into the sea, forming picturesque bays and gulfs, some of which
afford excellent harbours. The highest peaks are the Monts Cinto (8881
ft.), Rotondo (8612), Paglia Orba (8284), Padro (7851) and d'Oro (7845).
On the eastern side of the island, between Bastia and Porto Vecchio,
there intervenes between the mountains and the sea a considerable tract
of low and unhealthy, but fertile country, and the coast is fringed in
places by lagoons.
_Geology._--Corsica may be divided into two parts, which are
geologically distinct, by a line drawn from Belgodere through Corte to
the east coast near Favone. West of this line the island is composed
chiefly of granite, with a large mass of granophyres, quartz
porphyries and similar rocks forming the high mountains around Mt.
Cinto; but between the Gulfs of Porto and Galeria, schists, limestones
and anthracite, containing fossils of Upper Carboniferous age, occur.
The famous orbicular diorite of Corsica is found near Sta.
Lucia-di-Tallano in the arrondissement of Sartene. In the eastern part
of the island the predominant rocks are schists of unknown age, with
intrusive masses of serpentine and euphotide. Folded amongst the
schists are Strips of Upper Carboniferous beds similar to those of the
west coast. Overlying these more ancient rocks are limestones with
Rhaetic and Liassic fossils, occurring in small patches at Oletta,
Morosaglia, &c. Nummulitic limestone of Eocene age is found near St
Florent, and occupies several large basins near the boundary between
the granite and the schist. Miocene molasse with _Clypeaster_, &c.,
forms the plain of Aleria on the east coast, and occurs also at St
Florent in the north and Bonifacio in the south. A small patch of
Pliocene has been found near Aleria. The caves of Corsica, especially
in the neighbourhood of Bastia, contain numerous mammalian remains,
the commonest of which belong to _Lagomys corsicanus_, Cuv.
See Hollande, "Geologie de la Corse," _Ann. sci. geol._, vol. ix.
(1877); Nentien, "Etudes sur les gites mineraux de la Corse," _Ann.
Mines Paris_, ser. 9, vol. xii. pp. 231-296, pi. v. (1897).
Corsica is well watered by rivers and torrents, which, though short in
their course, bring down large volumes of water from the mountains. The
longest is the Golo, which rises in the pastoral region of Niolo,
isolated among the mountains to the west of Corte and inhabited by a
distinct population of obscure origin. It enters the sea on the east
coast to the south of the salt-water lake of Biguglia; farther south, on
the same side of the island, is the Tavignano, while on the west there
are the Liamone, the Gravone and the Taravo. The other streams are all
comparatively small. Owing to the rugged and indented outline of the
western coast there are an unusual number of bays and harbours. Of the
bays the most important are Porto, Sagone, Ajaccio and Valinco; of the
ports, St Florent (San Fiorenzo), Ile Rousse (Isola Rossa), Calvi,
Ajaccio and Propriano. On the eastern side, which is much less rugged
and broken, the only harbours worth mentioning are those of Bastia and
Porto Vecchio (the _Portus Syracusanus_ of the ancients), and the only
gulfs those of Porto Vecchio and Santa Manza. At the extreme south are
the harbour and town of Bonifacio, giving name to the strait which
separates Corsica from Sardinia.
The climate of the island ranges from warmth in the lowlands to extreme
rigour in the mountains. The intermediate region is the most temperate
and healthy. The mean annual temperature at Ajaccio is 63 deg. F. The
dominant winds are those from the south-west and south-east.
There are mines of anthracite, antimony and copper; the island produces
granite, building stone, marble, and amianthus, and there are salt
marshes. Among other places Guagno, Pardina Guitera, and Orezza have
mineral springs.
The agriculture of Corsica suffers from scarcity of labour, due partly
to the apathy of the inhabitants, and from scarcity of capital. The
cultivation of cereals, despite the fertility of the soil, is neglected;
wheat is grown to some extent, but in this respect, the population is
dependent to a large degree on outside supplies. The culture of fruit,
especially of the vine, cedrates, citrons and olives (for which the
Balagne region, in the north-west, is noted), of vegetables and of
tobacco, and sheep and goat rearing are the main rural industries, to
which may be added the rearing of silk-worms. The exploitation of the
fine forests, which contain the well-known Corsican pine, beeches, oaks
and chestnuts, is also an important resource, but tends to proceed too
rapidly. Chestnuts are exported, and, ground into flour, are used as
food by the mountaineers. Most of the inhabitants are proprietors of
land, but often the properties are so split up that many hours, or even
a whole day, are spent in going from the vineyard or olive plantation to
the arable land in the plain or the chestnut-wood in the mountain. A
great part of the agricultural labour is performed by labourers from
Tuscany and Lucca, who periodically visit the island for that purpose.
Sheep of a peculiar breed, resembling chamois and known as _mouflons_,
inhabit the more inaccessible parts of the mountains. The uncultivated
districts are generally overgrown with a thick tangled underwood,
consisting of arbutus, myrtle, thorn, laurel broom and other fragrant
shrubs, and known as the _maquis_, the fragrance of which can be
distinguished even from the sea.
Fishing and shooting are allowed almost everywhere to the possessor of a
government licence; special permission, where it is necessary, is easily
obtained. Wild boars, stags, in the eastern districts, and hares as well
as the _mouflon_ are found, while partridges, quail, woodcock, wild duck
and water-fowl are abundant. Trout and eels are the chief fish. The
flesh of the Corsican blackbird is considered a delicacy. The fisheries
of tunny, pilchard and anchovy are extensively prosecuted for the supply
of the Italian markets; but comparatively few of the natives are engaged
in this industry.
The Corsican is simple and sober but unenterprising; dignified and
proud, he is possessed of a native courtesy, manifested in his
hospitality to strangers, the refusal of which is much resented. He is,
however, implacable towards his own countrymen when his enmity is once
aroused, and the practice of the blood-feud or _vendetta_ has not died
out. Each individual is attached to some powerful family, and the
influence of this usage is specially marked in politics, the individual
voting with his clan on pain of arousing the vindictiveness of his
fellow-members. Another dominant factor in social life in Corsica is the
almost universal ambition on the part of the natives towards an official
career, a tendency from which commerce and agriculture inevitably
suffer.
The manufactures of the island are of small importance. They include the
extraction of gallic acid from chestnut-bark, the preparation of
preserved citrons and other delicacies, and of macaroni and similar
foods and the manufacture of fancy goods and cigars.
The chief ports are Bastia, Ajaccio and Ile Rousse. A railway runs from
Bastia to Ajaccio with branches to Calvi and Ghisonaccia, but, in
general, lack of means of communication as well as of capital are a
barrier to commercial activity. In 1905 imports reached a value of
L113,000. The chief were tobacco furniture and wooden goods, wine,
cereals, coal, cheese and bran. Exports were valued at L336,000, and
included chestnut-extract, charcoal, timber, citrons and other fruits,
seeds, casks, skins, chestnuts and tanning bark.
Corsica is divided into five arrondissements (chief towns--Ajaccio,
Bastia, Calvi, Corte and Sartene), with 62 cantons and 364 communes. It
forms part of the _academie_ (educational circumscription) and
archiepiscopal province of Aix (Bouches-du-Rhone) and of the region of
the XV. army corps. The principal towns are Ajaccio, the capital and the
seat of the bishop of the island and of the prefect; Bastia, the seat of
the court of appeal and of the military commander; Calvi, Corte and
Bonifacio. Other places of interest are St Florent, near which stand the
ruins of the cathedral (12th century) of the vanished town of Nebbio;
Murato, which has a church (12th or 13th century) of Pisan architecture,
which is exemplified in other Corsican churches; and Cargese, where
there is a Greek colony, dating from the 17th century. Near Lucciana are
the ruins of a fine Romanesque church called La Canonica. Megalithic
monuments are numerous, chief among them being the dolmen of Fontanaccia
in the arrondissement of Sartene.
_History._--The earliest inhabitants of Corsica were probably Ligurian.
The Phocaeans of Ionia were the first civilized people to establish
settlements there. About 560 B.C. they landed in the island and founded
the town of Alalia. By the end of the 6th century, however, their power
had dwindled before that of the Etruscans, who were in their turn driven
out by the Carthaginians. The latter were followed by the Romans, who
gained a footing in the island at the time of the First Punic War, but
did not establish themselves there till the middle of the 2nd century
B.C. Both Marius and Sulla founded colonies--the one at Mariana (near
Lucciana) in 104, the second at Aleria in 88. In the early centuries of
the Christian era Corsica formed one of the senatorial provinces of the
Empire, but though it was in continuous commercial communication with
Italy, it was better known as a place of banishment for political
offenders. One of the most distinguished of those was the younger
Seneca, who spent in exile there the eight years ending A.D. 49.
During the break-up of the Roman empire in the West the possession of
Corsica was for a while disputed between the Vandals and the Gothic
allies of the Roman emperors, until in 469 Genseric finally made himself
master of the island. For 65 years the Vandals maintained their
domination, the Corsican forests supplying the wood for the fleets with
which they terrorized the Mediterranean. After the destruction of the
Vandal power in Africa by Belisarius, his lieutenant Cyril conquered
Corsica (534) which now, under the exarchate of Africa, became part of
the East Roman empire. The succeeding period was one of great misery.
Goths and Lombards in turn ravaged the island, which in spite of the
prayers of Pope Gregory the Great the exarch of Africa did nothing to
defend; the rule of the Byzantines was effective only in grinding
excessive taxes out of the wretched population; and, to crown all, in
713 the Mussulmans from the northern coast of Africa made their first
descent upon the island. Corsica remained nominally attached to the East
Roman empire until Charlemagne, having overthrown the Lombard power in
Italy (774), proceeded to the conquest of the island, which now passed
into the hands of the Franks. In 806, however, occurred the first of a
series of Moorish incursions from Spain. Several times defeated by the
emperor's lieutenants, the Moors continually returned, and in 810 gained
temporary possession of the island. They were crushed and exterminated
by an expedition under the emperor's son Charles, but none the less
returned again and again. In 828 the defence of Corsica was entrusted to
Boniface II., count of the Tuscan march, who conducted a successful
expedition against the African Mussulmans, and returning to Corsica
built a fortress in the south of the island which formed the nucleus of
the town (Bonifacio) that bears his name. Boniface's war against the
Saracens was continued by his son Adalbert, after he had been restored
to his father's dignities in 846; but, in spite of all efforts, the
Mussulmans seem to have remained in possession of part of the island
until about 930. Corsica, of which Berengar II., king of Italy, had made
himself master, became in 962, after his dethronement by Otto the Great,
a place of refuge for his son Adalbert, who succeeded in holding the
island and in passing it on to his son, another Adalbert. This latter
was, however, defeated by the forces of Otto II., and Corsica was once
more attached to the marquisate of Tuscany, of which Adalbert was
allowed to hold part of the island in fee.
The Terra di Comune.
The period of feudal anarchy now began, a general mellay of petty lords
each eager to expand his domain. The counts of Cinarca, especially, said
to be descended from Adalbert, aimed at establishing their supremacy
over the whole island. To counteract this and similar ambitions, in the
11th century, a sort of national diet was held, and Sambucuccio, lord of
Alando, put himself at the head of a movement which resulted in
confining the feudal lords to less than half of the island to the south,
and in establishing in the rest, henceforth known as the Terra di
Comune, a sort of republic composed of autonomous parishes. This system,
which survived till the Revolution, is thus described by Jacobi (tom. i.
p. 137), "Each parish or commune nominated a certain number of
councillors who, under the name of 'fathers of the commune,' were
charged with the administration of justice under the direction of a
_podesta_, who was as it were their president. The podestas of each of
the states or enfranchised districts chose a member of the supreme
council charged with the making of laws and regulations for the Terra di
Comune. This council or magistracy was called the Twelve, from the
number of districts taking a share in its nomination. Finally, in each
district the fathers of the commune elected a magistrate who, under the
name of _caporale_, was entrusted with the defence of the interests of
the poor and weak, with seeing that justice was done to them, and that
they were not made the victims of the powerful and rich."