Origin of the co-lordship 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, 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. Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection, and since the bishop of Urgell knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, married
Roger Bernat II, the
French count of Foix. They became, respectively, Count and Countess of Foix, Viscount and Viscountess of Castellbò and Cerdanya, and also co-sovereigns of Andorra (together with the bishop of Urgell). In the 11th century, a dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix. The conflict was mediated by the sovereign of those lands, the
monarch of Aragon in 1278, and led to the signing of the first
paréage, which provided that Andorra's lordship be shared between the count In 1812–13, the
First French Empire under
Napoleon annexed
Catalonia and divided it into four
départements, with Andorra forming part of the district of
Puigcerdà (department of
Sègre). Following the defeat of Napoleon, a royal decree reversed this annexation, and Andorra reverted to its former independence and political state. The
French head of state—whether king, emperor, or president—has continued to serve as a co-prince of Andorra ever since.
20th century On 12 July 1934, Andorra's monarchical system was challenged by an adventurer named
Boris Skossyreff, who issued a proclamation in Urgell declaring himself "Boris I, King of Andorra". Though initially enjoying some support within Andorra's political establishment, he was ultimately arrested by Spanish authorities on 20 July 1934 after declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell (who had refused to relinquish his own claim to the principality). Skossyreff was expelled, and was never considered to have been the Andorran monarch in any legal sense. Before 1993, Andorra had
no codified constitution, and the exact prerogatives of the co-princes were not specifically defined in law. In March 1993, a
Constitution was approved by a vote of the Andorran people and signed into law by the two reigning co-princes at the time, Bishop
Joan Martí Alanis and President
François Mitterrand. It clarified the continuance of the unique Andorran diarchy, and also delineated the precise role and prerogatives of the two co-princes. Prior to adoption of the Constitution, Andorra paid in odd-numbered years a
tribute of approximately $460 to the French ruler, while in even-numbered years, it paid a tribute of approximately $12 to the Catalan bishop, plus six
hams, six cheeses, and six live chickens. This medieval custom was subsequently abandoned in 1993.
21st century In 2009, French president
Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to abdicate as French co-prince if the principality did not change its banking laws to eliminate its longstanding status as a
tax haven. The
European Union also applied pressure to bring its tax laws into alignment with its taxation norms, and from 2013 to 2016
Andorra made reforms, including a personal income tax, a general indirect tax, and an end to its banking secrecy policies. In 2014,
Joan Enric Vives i Sicília said that he would abdicate as bishop of Urgell and co-prince of Andorra if the Andorran Parliament passed a law legalizing abortion. The bishopric would then be held in
abeyance at least until the law had been promulgated, so that no cleric would have to sign it. This would make Andorra the second country (
after Belgium) where a head of state refused to sign a law legalizing abortion without preventing the law's promulgation. The legislative standoff was substantially de-escalated in 2018 when
Pope Francis affirmed that Vives would need to abdicate if the law was passed, and
abortion remains illegal in Andorra. Activism has continued to try to change that. ==Contemporary political role==