Ithaque
{{Short description|French department in the Ionian Islands (1797-1802); today part of Greece}}
{{Infobox former country
|native_name = Département d'Ithaque
|conventional_long_name = Department of Ithaque
|common_name = Ithaque
|year_start = 1797
|year_end = 1798
|flag =
|image_flag =
|image_map = SeptinsularRepublic1801.jpg
|image_map_caption = The three departments of Greece
|languages = French (administrative)
|common_languages = Greek
|status = Department of the French First Republic
|admin_center_type = Chef-lieu
|admin_center = Argostoli
{{coord|38.17|20.49|display=inline}}
|government_type =
|leader_title1 = Commissioner
|leader_name1 = Pierre-Pomponne-Amédée Pocholle
|era = French Revolutionary Wars
|event_pre = Treaty of Campo Formio
|date_pre = 17 October 1797
|event_start = Establishment
|date_start = 7 November
|date_end = 29 October
|event_end = Fall of Cephalonia
|date_post = 25 March 1802
|event_post = Official disbandment
|p1 = Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands
|flag_p1 = Flag_of_the_Republic_of_Venice.svg
|s1 = Septinsular Republic
|flag_s1 = Flag_of_the_Septinsular_Republic.svg
|s2 = Pashalik of Yanina
|flag_s2 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
|today = Greece
}}
Ithaque ({{IPA|fr|i.tak|lang}}; French for "Ithaca") was one of three short-lived French departments of Greece.
History
It came into existence after Napoleon's conquest in 1797 of the Republic of Venice, when Venetian Greek possessions such as the Ionian islands fell to the French Directory. It included the islands of Ithaca, Cephalonia and Lefkada, as well as the cities of Preveza, Arta and Vonitsa on the adjacent mainland. Its prefecture was at Argostoli on Cephalonia. The islands were lost to Russia in 1798 and the department was officially disbanded in 1802. Also Preveza, Arta and Vonitsa were captured in 1798 by Ali Pasha, ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina.
During the renewed French control of the area in 1807–1809, the department was not re-established, the constitutional form of the Septinsular Republic being kept.
Administration
=Commissioner=
The Commissioner of the Directory was the highest state representative in the department.
| class="wikitable" style="width: 70%;"
! align="left" |Term start ! align="left" |Term end ! align="left" |Office holder | ||
| valign="top" | 3 March 1799 | Pierre-Pomponne-Amédée Pocholle |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book |title=Les Îles de la Grèce |last=Lacroix |first=Louis |year=1853 |publisher=Firmin Didot |page=638 |language=French|trans-title=The Islands of Greece}}
- {{cite book |title=Les Îles Ioniennes pendant l'occupation française et le protectorat anglais|last=Pauthier|first=G.|year=1863 |publisher=Benjamin Duprat|location=Paris|language=French|trans-title=The Ionian Islands during the French occupation and the British protectorate}}
{{Annexed departments of the French First Republic}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Former departments of France in Greece
Category:States and territories established in 1797
Category:History of Cephalonia