Emergence of Sancratosia

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Proposed emblem of the Constitutional State of Sancratosia. The governing system changed before the emblem could be used.

The Emergence of Sancratosia is considered to be the period leading to the independence of the Principality beginning with the discovery of micronations by Chloé Fortin Côté in the early 2000's and ending with the declaration of independence.

Rise of micronational interest

In the early 2000’s, Chloé Fortin Côté began to be interested with the phenomenon of micronations, especially the nations of Sealand and Molossia. From that moment, Chloé started some hobby worldbuilding projects.

Chloé went on to study political science at Université du Québec à Montréal and during that time she became a self-taught artist and graphic designer.

Resurgence of worldbuilding

Many years later, the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns that resulted revived the interest in hobby worldbuilding. Chloé created many nations during that time and roleplayed especially on NationStates and its larger community.

Republic of Anserisa

The Republic of Anserisa was a Trinidad and Tobago inspired project. It featured an auxiliary language, Anserisan, which was heavily influenced by Latin, while keeping the grammar of French. It had a political system inspired by the United States. This project introduced the Canada goose as an official animal and as supporters for its coat of arms, elements which influenced the identity of the Principality of Sancratosia.

Federal Union of Kosbareland

The Federal Union of Kosbareland was a South Africa inspired project. It shared similar institutions and history with South Africa and did not introduce any elements used today in Sancratosia.

Grand Duchy of Mauquibie

The Grand Duchy of Mauquibie was a Luxemboug inspired project. It had Quebec French as an official language, a coat of arms composed of elements from the Kingdom of France and similar institutions as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It did not directly influence Sancratosia but it allowed Chloé to explore other forms of government.

Constitutional State of the Andorinhões

The Constitutional State of the Andorinhões was a Cabo Verde and Vanuatu inspired project. It used Portuguese as official language and shared similar institutions as Cabo Verde. It also had, within its territory, a sovereign military order acting as a mix between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Mount Athos. This project introduced the martlet on its coat of arms. This martlet would serve as the basis for the one used in the Honourable Order of the Martlet. A sister project, the Republic of Marabilla first saw the use of the carnation used on sancratosian stamps. The name Constitutional State that was briefly considered for Sancratosia stems from this worldbuilding project.

Republic of Laurentia and Territories

The Republic of Laurentia and Territories was a project developed as an alternative history of Canada, where it becomes a republic earlier in its history. In this alternate world, the Republic gains the West Indies Federation's lands as territories.

Brainstorming for an identity

Protesting an unjust Bill

Since being elected in 2018, the Government of Québec, led by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), put forward a number of bills that were personally denounced by Chloé. The first major bill conflicting with Chloé's personal views is the 'Projet de loi no 21, Loi sur la laïcité de l'État (English: Bill 21, An Act respecting the secular nature of the State) which prevents people who wear religious symbols to be employed by the Government of Québec. According to Chloé and the movement opposed to this bill, it is mostly targeting women who wear hijabs or other islamic heacoverings and as such is a racist bill. With the presentation of new articles to the Projet de loi no 2, Loi portant sur la réforme du droit de la famille en matière de filiation et modifiant le Code civil en matière de droits de la personnalité et d'état civil (English: Bill 2, An Act to reform family law with respect to filiation and to amend the Civil Code with respect to personality rights and civil status) in the later weeks of October 2021 by the Government, articles that would threaten trans rights in the province, Chloé thought of an appropriate response to protest against the bill and the CAQ-led Government. The idea came to Chloé that the creation of a micronation could be a perfect way to achieve that goal. The hobby of worldbuilding thus turned to micronational creation and Chloé started the process of formally declaring independence.

Choosing a name

Flag of the Constitutional State of Sancratosia.
The flag of the Constitutional State of Sancratosia became the basis for the flag of the Municipality of Sancratosia.

Starting on 16 October 2021 (2021-10-16), Chloé began the brainstorming process for the formation of what would be called then, the Constitutional State of Sancratosia.[a] On 21 October 2021 (2021-10-21), the name of "Sancratosia" was settled which is considered as the Emergence of Sancratosia. Emergence Day is celebrated, since then, annually on 21 October. It is also the date on which the first internet domain, "sancratosia.com" was purchased.[1] It was changed on 23 October 2021 (2021-10-23) for the non commercial one: "sancratosia.org".

Quest for a form of government

The first form of government envisioned was one of a constitutional state, being influenced by the constitutions of lusophone countries such as Cabo Verde[b] or Mozambique. However, the size of the governmental structure of such large states and the desire to be able to exercice some control on the direction of the nation in the long term prevented any of these influences to be applicable to Sancratosia. Other historical constitutions were studied, such as the Constitution of the July Monarchy or the Constitutional Charter of 1826 of Portugal. The Constitution of Luxembourg[c] was also the basis of a first draft in Lingua Franca Nova. Chloé settled on the Constitution of Monaco and on the culture of Monaco has its main influences to guide its micronational formation.

Declaration of independence

The document was thought for a few days and written in about two days. Few modifications occurred from the first drafts to the final declaration. One of the main changes was the inclusion of a a denunciation of the acts of representatives in the Assemblée nationale du Québec. This was done especially following the introduction of the Projet de loi no 2, Loi portant sur la réforme du droit de la famille en matière de filiation et modifiant le Code civil en matière de droits de la personnalité et d'état civil (English: Bill 2, An Act to reform family law with respect to filiation and to amend the Civil Code with respect to personality rights and civil status) which, at the time, presented a setback for the rights of transgender individuals in Quebec.[2] The bill had been revised earlier in November but it was deemed essential to the declaration.[3] The wording was eventually changed to a denunciation of non-respect of rights in general in Canada which would encompass both the provincial and federal governments.

On 1 December 2021, following the signature of Princess Cloe, the declaration came into effect and was published on the official website of the Principality and released on social media platforms Twitter and Facebook.[4][5][6]

See also

Notes and References

Notes

  1. Directly inspired from the worldbuilding project, Constitutional State of the Andorinhões.
  2. Explored during the worldbuilding of the Constitutional State of the Andorinhões.
  3. Explored during the worldbuilding of the Grand Duchy of Mauquibie.

References

  1. CubDomain (22 October 2022), "Domains Registered By Date (2021-10-22) - Page 22", cubdomain.com
  2. Radio-Canada (24 October 2021), "Projet de loi 2 : " un recul historique " pour la communauté LGBTQ+", Radio-Canada
  3. Radio-Canada (9 November 2021), "Projet de loi 2 : Simon Jolin-Barrette recule sur les aspects jugés transphobes", Radio-Canada
  4. Principality of Sancratosia (1 December 2021), "The Principality of Sancratosia declares its independence", sancratosia.org
  5. Principality of Sancratosia (1 December 2021), "The people of Sancratosia declared their independence! Long live the Principality of Sancratosia", Twitter
  6. Principality of Sancratosia (1 December 2021), "The people of Sancratosia declared their independence! Long live the Principality of Sancratosia", Facebook

External links