I Francesi e le isole Ionie. Imperialismo giuridico in difficoltà. Spunti per un approfondimento

Using manuscripts found in Paris Archives Nationales, it was investigated how the Heptanese went through what Adriano Cavanna called the “French legal imperialism”. After the first attempt at dominating the Ionian Islands fails, Napoleon understands that enforcing the Code Civil would lead to a leveling out and secularization of society, which could cause unrest. Imperial commissaries obstinately advocating the enforcement of French codes are silenced, sometimes brutally. French citizens who live in Corfu and wish to divorce must return in Paris to apply for the dissolution of the bond, not to upset the population in Corfu. The priority is to protect the last French outpost in the Mediterranean. Notwithstanding all this, in Mid Nineteenth Century, when codification starts in the Ionian Islands, local jurists adopt French models. These are mixed with other models: local, Venetian and also British. But the basic framework is French, although adapted to Levantine usages. French codification, which Napoleon did not impose by force, imposed itself due to its scientific rationality.