Invasion of Corsica (1553) Invasion of Corsica (1553) The Invasion of Corsica of 1553 occurred when French, Ottoman and Corsican exile forces combined to capture the island of Corsica from the Genoese. The island had considerable strategic importance in the western Mediterranean, being at the heart of the Habsburg communication network and serving as a forced stopover for small boats sailing between Spain and Italy. The island had been administered since 1453 by the Genoese Bank of Saint George. The invasion of Corsica was accomplished for the benefit of France. The island had major strategic importance, as it was located on the sea route
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mariana in Corsica Corsica", bishop in Corsica, not bishop of Corsica. Leo had been sent by the Pope as an Apostolic Visitor, since, as the Pope notes, the dioceses of Corsica had long been vacant. The fourteenth century was a period of extreme crisis in Corsica. Roger Caratini notes that the population of ordinary people on the island had decreased by 8% between 1300 and 1350, mostly by migration to the territory of Pisa; then came the Black Death; between 1350 and 1400 the population decreased another 19%. The ability to maintain traditional institutions in the face of the new Genoese overlords was