Austenasia Explained

Conventional Long Name:Empire of Austenasia
Common Name:Austenasia
Date Start:20 September 2008
Area Km2:2.46 [1]

The Empire of Austenasia is a micronation founded in 2008 in the United Kingdom. Operating under a constitutional monarchy, it consists of dozens of properties that have declared themselves independent under the leadership of a house in the London Borough of Sutton.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Drawing from the medieval idea of Translatio imperii, Austenasia claims to be a successor of the Roman Empire (specifically its later Christian phase) and has increasingly adopted Roman-themed elements such as Consuls and a Senate. Christianity was declared Austenasia's official religion in 2017.[10]

History

Austenasia was founded on 20 September 2008 by Jonathan Austen (born 1994), a student, and his father Terry Austen (born 1961), a security guard turned gardener. After sending a declaration of independence for their house in Carshalton to their local Member of Parliament, Tom Brake, Terry was named Emperor and Jonathan was named Prime Minister. Terry abdicated in February 2010, and was succeeded by Emperor Esmond III, who after a "civil war" and various internal disputes was replaced by a new leader, Declan MacDonagh, in December later that year. Having initially received no reply to their declaration of independence,[11] Jonathan met with Tom Brake MP in May 2011, who contacted Foreign Secretary William Hague to enquire on Jonathan's behalf about the criteria by which the UK recognises new states.[12]

Jonathan then became emperor after Declan abdicated in January 2013 for personal reasons,[13] and began a program of expansion which has seen people from across the world join the micronation by claiming properties which they live in or regularly visit. In April 2024, Jonathan withdrew from a leadership position, handing over responsibility for running the micronation to a Prince Regent, Aggelos I.

The micronation has been featured in several local and international publications, and has a certain amount of fame within Carshalton as being a local "quirk".[14] [15] [16] The micronation produced and sold commemorative coins in 2018 in celebration of its tenth anniversary.[17]

Geography

Austenasia claims several properties around the world, variously classified as "cities", "towns", "territories" or "crown dependencies". Wrythe, the micronation's capital city, consists of a suburban house in the London Borough of Sutton. Several other British houses are also claimed, and other territorial claims include part of a university campus in Australia and a holiday home in the Hebrides. The micronation also has claims in the United States, Turkey, India, Algeria, Poland and other nations.[18] [19] [20] [21]

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://micronations.wiki/wiki/Empire_of_Austenasia
  2. News: Barnes . Kevin . Carshalton home declares itself independent state . suttonguardian.co.uk . 15 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110615192104/http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/archive/2009/01/22/news_top_stories/4064529.Carshalton_home_declares_itself_independent_state/ . 15 June 2011 . dead . 5 July 2018.
  3. Web site: AOL . Join the List of 5 Weirdest Micronations by Starting Your Own Country - Asylum.com . Asylum . 4 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111004182445/http://www.asylum.com/2009/10/20/5-weirdest-micronations-how-to-create-your-own-country/ . 4 October 2011 . dead . 5 July 2018.
  4. Web site: ko:[조선일보 창간 90주년 특집] [2030 미래를 가다] [3] 나홀로 만든 국가, 사고 팔고 대여한다 . ko:1등 인터넷뉴스 조선닷컴 . 12 June 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142607/http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/03/16/2010031600145.html?Dep1=news&Dep2=headline2&Dep3=h2_02 . 12 June 2018 . live . ko . 5 July 2018.
  5. http://city.corriere.it/pdf/supplementi/Summer.pdf City – Summer 2009 (Page 97)
  6. Tom Cutler (3 May 2011). The Gentleman's Bedside Companion: A Compendium of Manly Information for the Last Fifteen Minutes of the Day. Penguin. pp. 137-138. . Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  7. Tom Gillespie (9 July 2014). "Leader of 'independent micronation' in Carshalton donates land to Renasia ". Telegraph & Argus Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  8. Travis Elborough (31 August 2016). "Curiocity review – a love letter to London". The Guardian Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  9. Mislan D.B., Streich P. (2019) To the Sea! Sealand and Other Wannabe States. In: Weird IR: Deviant Cases in International Relations Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp. 15-28.
  10. https://austenasia.com/imperium/ Imperium - Austenasia
  11. Web site: Hookway, J. . Fake Countries Have a Hard Time Dealing with the Pandemic, Too . . 21 June 2020 . 23 June 2020.
  12. http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/suttonnews/9263842.Carshalton__micronation__pushes_for_independence/ Your Local Guardian: Carshalton "micronation" pushes for independence from Sutton
  13. Web site: Young Reporter: Micronation Emperor Celebrates . Your Local Guardian . 15 January 2015 . 5 July 2018.
  14. Cutler, 2011
  15. Web site: Murphy-Pyle . Mike . Expanding empire celebrates new leader's coronation . Sutton Guardian . 26 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140226171143/http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/10251322.Expanding_empire_celebrates_new_leader_s_coronation . 26 February 2014 . live . 5 July 2018.
  16. Eduardo González, 13 September 2015. "En Austenasia no se pone el Sol" . Sabemos. Retrieved on 10 October 2017.
  17. Web site: Wright, T. . Germany's New Mini-Reichs . Los Angeles Review of Books . 22 June 2019 . 29 February 2020.
  18. Murphy-Pyle, 2013
  19. http://austenasia.webs.com/territory.htm Territory
  20. Sonia Delesalle-Stolper, 19 August 2018. "Jonathan I, MicroBrexit". Libération. Retrieved on 21 August 2018.
  21. Web site: Prosaico, B. . ¿El sueño de Guaidó? Micronaciones: imperios y reinos para autoproclamados . El Ciudadano.com . es . 14 June 2019 . 29 February 2020.

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