Settled by the Corinthians in the eighth century BC, Corfu was important in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, but suffered later from being on the fringes of empires.
Corfu, also known as Kerkyra, is the greatest of the Ionian Islands. From starting the Peloponnesian War to providing the setting for one of Shakespeare's best regarded plays, to being the haunt of writers and artists such as Edward Lear and the Durrell brothers, Corfu is always popping up in history where it is least expected. Sometimes described as the most beautiful of all Greek islands, there is certainly something about the landscape, culture, architecture and history which leads people to fall devotedly in love with it.
Ancient History
Corfu was known to the ancient Greeks as Korkyra, from which the modern Greek name Kerkyra comes. The island lies on the Ionian Coast just opposite the Greek-Albanian border, and across the sea from northern Italy. There were human settlers on this island from the Palaeolithic Period, tens of thousands of years BC, but it was only when the Corinthians founded a colony on the island, which became the modern Corfu Town, that its history really starts. The date of the colony is not known exactly, but certainly by the end of the seventh century BC there was a thriving community in the polis (Greek city-state) of Korkyra.
By the time of the Persian War, at the beginning of the fifth century BC, Corfu had become a sea power to be reckoned with. It provided the largest force of ships after Athens in the fight against the Persians. Later that century the rising power of Athens, Sparta and Corinth led to tensions and the communities of Greece became divided into factions attached to these powerful poleis (city states). The smouldering tensions were set alight by a dispute between Corinth and her daughter city Corfu over Corfu's daughter city, Epidamnus (near the northern border of modern Albania). The Peloponnesian War had begun. In this conflict Corfu was lucky enough to back the winner, Athens, but in the two centuries that followed its fortunes would change.
After the collapse of Alexander the Great's empire, the power of the Greek world declined. Corfu came under attack from Illyrian pirates (from modern day Albania, only a few miles from Corfu). The power of Rome was rising in the same period, and in 229BC the Romans took control of Corfu, re-establishing security. Once again Corfu was protected by a strong empire and was able to benefit as a trading bridge between Rome and Greece. It enjoyed a few prosperous centuries of peace and quiet, but eventually the power of Rome also passed.
The Medieval Period
After the Roman empire was split into East and West in 395AD, Corfu became part of the eastern part, ruled from Byzantium. But Byzantium (modern day Istanbul, in Turkey) was too far away to protect Corfu from the hordes of invaders rampaging through the remains of the Roman Empire, such as the Vandals, Goths, Saracens and Normans. As the power of Byzantium went into terminal decline, Corfu changed hands frequently. In a time of fading empires, piracy once again became a problem for an island so close to the coast. Eventually, Corfu appealed to Venice, a rising power, to take the island under its wing permanently, and so in 1386 Corfu became Venetian. The Italians built a lot of the most characteristic architecture of Corfu, and also gave us the western name – Corfu is an Italian corruption of the Greek koryphai, meaning hills.
More: Shakespeare and the Modern Period
Sources: The Rough Guide to the Ionian Islands (2006); The Cambridge Dictionary of Classical Civilisation; L. Durrell Prospero's Cell
