In the 18th century, a Greek national independence movement began to emerge, and the free status of the Ionian islands made them the natural base for exiled Greek intellectuals, freedom fighters and foreign sympathisers.
No século 18, empezou a xurdir o movemento de independencia nacional grego, e o estatuto das illas Xónicas, fixo de base natural para os intelectuais gregos exiliados, loitadores pola liberdade e simpatizantes estranxeiros.