Kerkyra

   Island in the Ionian Sea (q.v.), also called Corfu, that commands the entrance to the Adriatic Sea (q.v.). Its successive rulers during the period of the early Crusades (q.v.) reflected the political instability of the region. The Normans (q.v.) attacked it in 1081 and captured it in 1147, probably hoping to make it a base of operations against Byzantium's (q.v.) possessions in Greece (q.v.). However, in 1149 it surrendered to Manuel I Komnenos (q.v.). The Venetians conquered the island in 1204; then it fell to the Despotate of Epiros (q.v.) in 1214. Charles I of Anjou (q.v.) seized it in 1272. In 1386 it reverted again to Venice (q.v.).