Flag Coat of Arms Official languages Italian Organizational structure Elective monarchy Province Province of Imperia | Location Seborga Demonym Seborgan Purported currency Seborga Luigino | |
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Team Seborga national football team | ||
The Principality of Seborga is a micronation or a fantasy state, that claims a 14 km2 area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about 35 km (23 mi) from Monaco. The principality is in coexistence with, and claims the territory of, the town of Seborga.
Contents
Map of 18012 Seborga, Province of Imperia, Italy
History
In arguing for the founding of Seborga in 1963, a Seborgan named Giorgio Carbone claimed, based on documents from the Vatican archives, that during the Middle Ages the town had become part of the feudal holdings of the Counts of Ventimiglia. He insisted that in the year 954, Seborga became the property of the Benedictine Monks of Santo Onorato of Lerins and in 1079 the Abbot of this monastery was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, with temporal authority over the Principality of Seborga.
Allegedly on 20 January 1729, this independent principality was sold to the Savoy dynasty and became a protectorate of theirs. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna overlooked Seborga in its redistribution of European territories after the Napoleonic Wars, and there is no mention of Seborga in the Act of Unification for the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The Unification of Italy in 1861 and the Italian Republic in 1946 would therefore illegitimate and unilateral acts, because they violate the legitimate sovereignty of the people of Seborga. The exile of the Savoy, in 1946, involved also the end of ius patronatus.
The argument for Seborga's present-day status as an independent state is based on the claim that the 1729 sale was never registered by its new owners, resulting in the principality falling into what has been described as a legal twilight zone.
Origins
In the early 1960s, Giorgio Carbone, began promoting the idea that Seborga restore its historic independence as a principality. By 1963 the people of Seborga were sufficiently convinced of these arguments to elect Carbone as their Head of State. He then assumed the style and title His Serene Highness Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga, which he held until his death in 2009.
Carbone's status as Prince was confirmed on 23 April 1995, when Seborgans voted 304 in favour, 4 against, for the Principality's constitution and in favour of independence from Italy.
Monarch
Prince Giorgio I reigned until his death on 25 November 2009. His successor Marcello Menegatto was elected on 25 April 2010 and crowned on 22 May 2010, styled His Tremendousness (Sua Tremendità) Marcello I.
The monarch's position is not hereditary and elections are held in Seborga every seven years. The 2017 election is to be held on 23 April.
Claimants
In June 2006 a minor controversy arose when a woman calling herself "Princess Yasmine von Hohenstaufen Anjou Plantagenet", who claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne of Seborga, wrote to Italy's president offering to return the principality to the state. Her claim was contested by the then-prince, Giorgio I (Giorgio Carbone), who asserted that there were no credible sources supporting her, and said:
"Pah! No one’s ever even seen her as far as I know. I call her the 'internet princess'."
Since 22 February 2016 Nicolas Mutte, a French writer, claims to replace Marcello I.
In the 2017 election, and Marcello's position is being contested by Mark Dezzani, a British-born radio DJ from Crawley, West Sussex, in England, who has lived in Seborga for nearly 40 years.
Privy Council
According to the constitution of Seborga, the reigning monarch has to rule under advisement by his Privy Council. Four members of the Council are elected by the citizens of Seborga while other members can be named by the Prince himself. The Privy Council is the executive in the principality.