The Republic of Cospaia (local dialect: ''Republica de' Cošpäja'') was a small state within modern-day

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, located in northern

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, independent from 1440 to 1826. It was located in what is now the hamlet (''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a '' comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate terri ...

'') of Cospaia in the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of San Giustino in the

Province of Perugia The Province of Perugia ( it, Provincia di Perugia) is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia. The province covered ...

History

It unexpectedly gained independence in 1440 after Pope Eugene IV, embroiled in a struggle with the Council of Basel, made a sale of territory to the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Fl ...

. By error, a small strip of land went unmentioned in the sale treaty and its inhabitants declared themselves independent. The misunderstanding arose from the fact that, about 500 meters from the

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

that was to establish the demarcation (simply called "Rio"), there was another stream with the same name. The delegates of the Florentine republic considered the "Rio" which was located further north as the new delimitation, whereas the delegates of the Papal States considered it the one further south. Thus a sort of '' terra nullius'' was formed whose inhabitants declared themselves independent, no longer subject to any authority. In 1484 its autonomy was formally recognized by both Florence and the Papal States, considering it not worth the trouble to redraw treaties in regard to an already complicated border. On May 25, 1826, Cospaia was divided between

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

and the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. The treaty was signed by the fourteen remaining family heads of Cospaia, in exchange for a silver coin, and being allowed to grow up to half a million tobacco plants a year.

Birth of the republic

The

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

an form of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

was relatively uncommon until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. There were maritime republics (with aristocratic institutions), the Republic of San Marino and alleged

Republic of Senarica Senarica is a village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. With a population of fewer than 300 people, Senarica was an independent republic for about four centuries until the end of the eighteenth century. It was the smallest state to maintain ...

(in

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

), with an elected doge akin to the system used in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, but its real existence has not been historically proven with proper documentation. The inhabitants of Cospaia, therefore, preferred to base their independence on the total freedom of the inhabitants, all holders of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

, not entrusted to any organ of power, unlike in states. Cospaia also had an official flag, which is still used on some occasions. The banner was characterized by a black and a white field, divided diagonally. In the coat of arms there appeared "the village between the two small streams, with two fish on the right and the plant of

Nicotiana tabacum ''Nicotiana tabacum'', or cultivated tobacco, is an annually grown herbaceous plant of the ''Nicotiana'' genus. The plant is tropical in origin, is commonly grown throughout the world, and is often found in cultivation. It grows to heights be ...

on the left, above was the motto and years of the republic". The inhabitants of Cospaia did not, therefore, have tribute obligations with either the

nor the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...

, and the goods that passed through the territory were not subject to any tariffs; it was therefore a free economic zone and

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...

between the two powers. Although Cospaia extended over just 330 hectares (2 kilometers long and about 500 meters wide), the 250 inhabitants treasured the situation and took advantage of it to increase the cultivation of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, among the first in the Italian peninsula. Even now, some varieties of tobacco are defined with the name of ''cospaia''. Cospaia was an early centre of

production within Italy, using 25 hectares of fertile soil to grow it. One of the reasons for the prosperity of Cospaia was that it was the only place in Italy that did not follow with the papal ban on tobacco growing, thus ensuring a monopoly on production.

Form of government

The Republic of Cospaia did not have a formal government or official legal system. There were no jails or prisons and there was no standing army or police force. At the head of the administration, there was the ''Council of Elders and Family Heads'', which was summoned for decision making and judicial duties. The curate of San Lorenzo also took part in the meetings of the "Council of Elders", as "president", a position shared with a member of the Valenti family, the most important in the country. Council meetings were held in the Valenti house until 1718, when the council began to meet in the Church of the Annunciation, where they would stay until the republic's dissolution. On the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can a ...

of the church door one can still read the only written law of the tiny republic: ("Perpetual and secure freedom"). This Latin phrase was also engraved on the parish bell. Although the republic had no tariffs, it is not clear that it had no taxes as it may have had an unofficial tax in the form of a council fee, though this is still being debated. If it existed, families that failed to pay up would have been excommunicated and forced to flee the republic into a "wide escape zone for exiles around Cospaia". After several centuries of existence, Cospaia was reduced to a mere receptacle of

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

. The concept of freedom was somewhat tarnished in favor of its privileges, which attracted people of all kinds, for economic reasons or to escape the justice of the two large adjacent states. This situation was not unusual in the small states, especially in the "border" ones.

End of the republic

After the end of the Napoleonic Era, on 26 June 1826, with an act of submission by fourteen representatives of the republic, Cospaia became part of the Papal States: every inhabitant of Cospaia, as "compensation", obtained a papal silver coin and the authorization to continue tobacco cultivation, which was taken over by rich local landowners such as the Collacchioni and the Giovagnoli, who bought most of the territory contained within the borders of the former republic. They then extended tobacco production to the whole valley, imposing it as the principal agricultural commodity.Enrico Fuselli, Cospaia tra tabacco, contrabbando e dogane, San Giustino, Fondazione per il Museo Storico Scientifico del Tabacco, 2014. pg. 39

References

External links