Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Sark, the last feudal territory of Europe

  • In 1565 Elisabet I.ak named the island of Sark as a feud, 40 limited plots and so many other families were established in Sark under the command of the new feudal lord. Little has changed in practice: Mr de Sark is still in power and is now also a tax haven.
(arg.: Jersey Evening Post)
(arg.: Jersey Evening Post)

Channel, 1565. Elisabet I.ak Sark was named feud and donated to Mr. de Saint Ouen de Jersey, Helier de Carteret. The small island, about five square kilometres, was then deserted, at least officially. Although in the Middle Ages several monastic communities lived, since the 15th century it was a refuge for pirates and, therefore, through this concession, the queen wanted to scare the pirates. In 2021, Sark’s government is still in the hands of Mr. Christopher Beaumont, Mr. de Sark, Mr. de Sark, who was the strength of the pirates, became the strength of the feudal regime.

In the 17th century, 40 rented families tried to implement a constitutional system on the island, as happened in other islands of the canal or, for example, in Jersey, but they did not make changes either then or later. They continued to live from agriculture. Although tourism on the island began to explode at the end of the twentieth century, the activity and its benefit was still in the hands of the outsiders. In recent years, the brothers David and Frederick Barclay, including the billionaire owners of the daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph and The New Yorker magazine, control the economic activity of the island.

Elections on the island of Sark were held for the first time in 2008. The UK Council approved in April the reform of the island's law. Thus, the feudal system was officially abolished. But the old tenants of Sark denounced that little has changed in practice: Mr de Sark is still in power; the senescal position established by the new system is lifelong and is therefore considered a dictatorship; and the special tax system has hardly changed, that is, Sark remains a tax haven for the benefit of the Barclay brothers and the like.

It seems that in recent years Sark is drowning. There is no concrete data, since the last official census was carried out in the 1970s, when it had 492 inhabitants, but the initiatives of repopulation of the island indicate that the “vasallos” are moving. For example, German businessman Swen Lorenz has launched a campaign to attract new “inhabitants”. It sells the quiet and ecological life of the island on its website, and it can only reach the island by boat, where there are no motor vehicles. But it also highlights other characteristics: “Minimum taxes”, “freeing oneself from excessive government regulation”… and does not send the message to any citizen, but to “entrepreneurs, investors and librepentines” (sic).

So Sark is no longer the last feudal territory of Europe and has become a fool for the new lords.


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