A thread about Sark, the last feudal state in Europe.

Sark, a roughly 4.5km2 island with a population of just under 500, is part of the Channel Islands. Although it is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency, it has its own legislature, so is effectively ..
a dependency of a dependency. And its political system is very unique, and whilst in the past few decades there has been much reform, it is still very different from anywhere else in the world.

Like the other Channel Islands, it is the last remnants of the Duchy of Normandy ...
and belongs to The Crown (represented through the Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey), with the Queen being traditionally referred to as 'the Duke of Normandy'.

The Island is formally held as a fief, by a 'Seigneur' (pictured below), or 'Dame' when female. The first Seigneur was..
Helier de Carteret, from the parish of St Ouen in Jersey, who was granted the fief by Queen Elizabeth I in 1965. The office is hereditary, but can be sold, as it was in 1849. One of the most famous seigneurs was Dame Sibyl Hathaway, who ruled the Island during the Nazi ...
Occupation, and ensured good governance, being respected by the German forces and protecting her Islanders. Constitutional reform in 2008 changed much of the Feudal System, removing the Seigneur's role as head of the Island's Government, but the Seigneur remains the ...
symbolic head of the Island, which remains a Fief.
However the Island's Government is now democratic, with its Parliament, known as the Chief Pleas, governing it (with the States of Guernsey also making laws in some areas). The Chief Pleas has 18 members, known as Conseillers ...
who are elected for 4 year terms. The Seigneur is also a member, but does not have voting rights.
There is also an office known as the Seneschal, who acts as Chief Judge on the Island. The Seneschal is appointed by the Seigneur, showing how some aspects of the Seigneur's ...
feudal power remains.

This all seems nice - a democratic society with a unique historical twist. But in recent decades politics has been turbulent, and that is all because of the Barclay Brothers. The billionaire twins, who own The Telegraph, lease the ...
island of Brecqhou, off the coast of Sark. They have been involved in many disputes with the Government of Sark, and have been accused of bullying Sark and its people.
In 2008, after Sark's first election, when the voters did not back candidates supported by the Brothers, ...
the brothers pulled out their investments in Sark, leading to 170 redundancies.
Hopefully the Barclays, who are now in their 80s, will not do anything like this again

If you have never been to Sark, I highly recommend you do. As this unique, historic Island is a beautiful place
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