Republic of Cospaia

The Republic of Cospaia (Repubblica di Cospaia, local dialect: Republica de' Cošpäja) was a small state in northern Umbria, now in Italy, that was independent from 1440 to 1826. It was in what is now the hamlet (frazione) of Cospaia, in the municipality (comune) of San Giustino, in the Province of Perugia.

History
Cospaia unexpectedly gained independence in 1440 after Pope Eugene IV, who was embroiled in a struggle with the Council of Basel, made a sale of territory to the Republic of Florence. 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 m from the stream 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" that was located further north as the new delimitation, but the delegates of the Papal States considered it to be the one further south. Thus, a sort of terra nullius was formed whose inhabitants declared themselves independent and no longer subject to any authority. In 1484, its autonomy was formally recognized by both Florence and the Papal States since they considered it not worth the trouble to redraw treaties in regard to an already-complicated border.

On May 25, 1826, Cospaia was divided between Tuscany and the Papal States. The treaty was signed by the 14 remaining family heads of Cospaia in exchange for a silver coin and permission to grow up to half a million tobacco plants a year.

Birth of republic
There were maritime republics (with aristocratic institutions), the Republic of San Marino and the alleged Republic of Senarica (in Abruzzo), with an elected doge akin to the system used in Venice, but their 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 of whom were holders of sovereignty, and it was 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 characterised by a black-and-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 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 Papal States or the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the goods that passed through the territory were not subject to any tariffs. It thus functioned as a free economic zone and buffer state between the two powers. Although Cospaia extended over just 330 ha (2 km long and about 500 m wide), the 250 inhabitants treasured the situation and took advantage of it to increase the cultivation of tobacco, among the first in the Italian Peninsula. Even now, some varieties of tobacco are still called cospaia.

Cospaia was an early centre of tobacco production in Italy and used 25 ha 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, which ensured 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 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 that was 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 it would stay until the republic's dissolution. On the architrave of the church door, one can still read the only written law of the tiny republic: Perpetua et firma libertas ("Perpetual and secure freedom"). The Latin phrase was also engraved on the parish bell. Although the republic had no tariffs, there may have been unofficial taxes in the form of a council fee, but that 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. The concept of freedom was somewhat tarnished in favor of its privileges, which attracted people of all kinds: economic reasons or escaping the justice of the two large adjacent states. This situation was not unusual in small states, especially in border ones.

End
After the Napoleonic Era, on 26 June 1826, with an act of submission by 14 representatives of the republic, Cospaia became part of the Papal States, and every inhabitant of Cospaia, as "compensation", obtained a papal silver coin and the authorisation 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 extended tobacco production to the whole valley and imposed it as the principal agricultural commodity.