Corsican war and the diplomatic measures for the redemption of the prince of Paterno

This essay discusses the topic of fraud linked to the prizes taken by corsairs in the Mediterranean during the period of the Continental Blockade, from the view- point of the Kingdom of Sicily, where the Bourbon court was sheltering under the English protectorate. The Tribunale delle prede (1808-1813) judged the legitimacy of the prizes taken by armed Sicilian corsair vessels from ships flying enemy or neutral flags, in a complex juridical framework which also involved the Health and Police authorities, at a time when in the rest of Europe similar institutions were being created. The documents produced by the Tribunale offer a penetrating in- sight into the dynamics of the fraud and into th…