In 1797, the French Republicans drove out the Venetians, swept aside the nobles and gave the mayors the authority to rule under the supervision of the French Governor. It was then that the common people, celebrating their liberation from the Venetians, and their allies burned the famous Libro d'Oro. The presence of the French on the island was a brief one. In 1798, the island came under Russo-Turkish domination until the Republic of the Ionian Islands was founded in