Napoleonic Corsica

Where it all began

In a fascinating coincidence of history, one year before Napoleon’s birth, the Treaty of Versailles ended four hundred years of Genoese rule and transferred the island to France. The Corsicans, who had waged rebellion against Genoa for decades, rose up against the invading French. Napoleon’s father, Carlo Buonaparte, numbered among the rebels. On May 8, 1769, just two months before the future French emperor was born, the Corsicans surrendered.

Thus, with the thinnest of margins, Napoleon Bonaparte was born a French citizen. But how much of his Corsican roots did Napoleon retain?  We will uncover this and much more !