Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official ...

governments. Politically, Venice organised the Islands in its own image, establishing
two basic social classes, the cittadini (citizens) and the popolari (commoners),
vesting all political rights and power exclusively to the former. To safeguard their
privileges and power, the Corfiot cittadini constituted themselves in a separate social
class of signori (nobles), mainly landowners residing in townships and restricted
from commercial enterprises or professions such as law and medicine. The Libro
d’Oro, introduced in 1572, limited the families allowed to participate in the local
Assembly. Ionian aristocrats, descendents of Italian or Greek families who had
settled during the Byzantine era, made up only three per cent of the Ionians by the
end of the nineteenth century. 142 Differences of origin, language and religious dogma
produced cultural, economic and political rifts among the Ionians, although common
interests gradually forged class identity and unity, enhanced by intermarriage. 143
Ionian aristocrats bought bureaucratic privileges from corrupt Venetian political
authorities, ensuring profits for themselves but leading to the exploitation of local
inhabitants. 144 Local businesses and Venetian goods were taxed at preferential rates
compared to those from other nations. In the meantime, Ionian exports, such as olive
oil, currants and wine, had duties levied on them. 145
By 1800, the middle classes of Ionian society were involved in commerce,
usury, small-scale manufacture and land acquisition. During the British Protectorate
142 Yannopoulos G., “State and Society in the Ionian Islands 1800-1830” in Clogg R., (ed.), Balkan
Society in the Age of Greek Independence, (London, 1981), pp. 40-49.
143 Miller W., The Latins in the Levant, (London, 1908), p. 138.
144 Lunzi E., Della Condizione Politica della Isole Jonie sotto il Domino Veneto, (Venice, 1858), pp.
240-480.
145 Ibid.
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