became independent after the death of Alexander, last King of Epirus. In 229, it was captured by the Illyrians, but was speedily delivered by a Roman fleet and remained a Roman naval station until at least 189. At this time, it was governed by a prefect (presumably nominated by the consuls), but in 148 it was attached to the province of Macedonia In 31 BC, it served Octavian (Augustus) as a base against Mark Antony. From AD 336 onwards, it was ruled by the Eastern Roman Empire. After the definitive division of the Roman Empire in 395, Kerkyra remained with the Eastern Roman Empire, known in modern historiography as the Byzantine Empire.
Medieval history
Eclipsed by the foundation of Nicopolis, Kerkyra for a long time passed out of notice. With the rise of the Norman kingdom in Sicily and the Italian naval powers, it again became a frequent object of attack. In 1081-1085 it was held by Robert Guiscard, in 1147-1154 by Roger II of Sicily. During the break-up of the Later Byzantine Empire it was occupied by Genoese privateers (1197–1207) who in turn were expelled by the Venetians. In 1214-1259 it passed to the Greek despots of Epirus, and in 1267 became a possession of the Neapolitan house of Anjou. Under the latter's weak rule the island suffered considerably from the inroads of various adventurers; hence in 1386 it placed itself under the protection of Venice, which in 1401 acquired formal sovereignty over Corfu and kept it until the French Occupation in 1797.
Venetian rule
Kerkyra, the "Door of Venice" during the centuries when the whole Adriatic was the Gulf of Venice, remained in Venetian hands from 1401 until 1797, though several times assailed by Turkish naval and land forces and subjected to four notable sieges in 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716, in which the great natural strength of the city and its defenders asserted itself time after time. The effectiveness of the powerful Venetian fortifications of the island as well
