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Co-prince of Andorra


The Co-Princes of Andorra are the two rulers of the Principality of Andorra, a landlocked microstate lying in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. Founded in 1278 through a treaty between the Bishop of Urgell and the French Count of Foix, this unique diarchical arrangement has persisted through medieval times to the present day. Currently, the Bishop of Urgell (Joan Enric Vives Sicília) and the President of France (François Hollande) serve as Andorra's Co-Princes, following the transfer of the Count of Foix's claims to the Crown of France and, thence, to the President of the French Republic.

The Andorran principality has the unique distinction of being ruled by two sovereigns, one of whom (the French president) is the only monarch in the world to be elected by common citizens—though not by the citizens of Andorra, but rather those of France. The French president is also the only person to be a monarch and the head of state of a republic at the same time. Each Co-Prince appoints a personal representative, the French Co-Prince currently being represented by Thierry Lataste and the Episcopal Co-Prince by Josep Maria Mauri.

Tradition holds that Charlemagne granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for their fighting against the Moors. The feudal overlord of this territory was at first the Count of Urgell. In 988, however, the count, Borrell II, gave Andorra to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya. The Bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has ruled Andorra ever since.


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