Commonwealth of Estaphel

Commonwealth of Estaphel
Commonwealth of Estaphel
	Flag Coat of arms
Status	Active
Location	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Capital	Olic
Largest province	Springfield
Recognised national languages	English, Anglisc
Religion	State secularism
Demonym(s)	Estaphelian
Government	Absolute monarchy
• King	Jacob
Establishment	2014
• Kingdom of Jacobia	5 March 2014
• First Commonwealth of Estaphel	21 March 2020
• Second Commonwealth of Estaphel	29 January 2021
Population
• Estimate	12
Currency	Pound Sterling (£)
Time zone	UTC+00
Date format	dd/mm/yyyyyy Holocene Calendar
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44
Internet TLD	.org

The Commonwealth of Estaphel, more commonly known as Estaphel, is a micronation established in 2014 consisting of two provinces in the north of England.

The nation has been ruled as an absolute monarchy since its inception, and does not have a codified constitution. Since its establishment in 2014, it has operated as a secular state. The nation's founder, Jacob of Estaphel, has ruled as King continuously from the time of establishment.

Until recently, Estaphel maintained a policy of isolationism and non-interventionism; however in February of 2023, Jacob decided a reform of foreign policy was required and to open up the nation to diplomatic relations with others in the micronational community.

History

Kingdom of Jacobia

According to the Establishment of Commonwealth History Act 2020, the Commonwealth of Estaphel is considered to have been founded on 5 March 2014 as the Kingdom of Jacobia when Jacob declared his house in Richmond, North Yorkshire independent of the United Kingdom and himself King. Between 2014 and 2020, the Kingdom of Jacobia relocated twice within the same area and rebranded itself as the Commonwealth of Estaphel. During the nation's incarnation as the Kingdom of Jacobia, it maintained a wholly isolationist policy in the micronational community and rarely communicated with other entities.

In December 2019, the Kingdom of Jacobia entered its first official period of mourning following the death of Lady Jean Smith the Duchess of Barnard Castle, who was grandmother to the King.

First Commonwealth of Estaphel

On 21 March 2020, King Jacob passed a piece of legislation, the Establishment of Commonwealth History Act 2020, and officially rebranded the nation as the Commonwealth of Estaphel. This period, officially known as the First Commonwealth of Estaphel, is considered within the nation to have been a transitional period wherein Estaphel once more relocated to its present location enclaved in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. In this period, the King began researching and exploring the micronational community and began preparations to end the isolationist policy. There were also considerations to transition from a system of absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, however these were not progressed.

In April of 2020, King Jacob engaged in a rare act of international communication with the then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who was at the time MP of the area Estaphel was located, to express his disapproval of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and conduct of the United Kingdom government.

Second Commonwealth of Estaphel

The third and present incarnation of Estaphel, officially the Second Commonwealth of Estaphel, began on 29 January 2021. In this time, Estaphel has claimed 1 new province and two territories. On 30 July 2022, the new national flag and royal coat of arms were unveiled and adopted.

In June 2022, King Jacob resigned as President of his university's Bee Society and handed control of the nation's apiary over to the new incoming president.

In late February 2023, Estaphel joined the micronational community and officially ended its policy of isolationism that it had maintained since its inception as the Kingdom of Jacobia in 2014.

On 27 February, to celebrate the Commonwealth of Estaphel joining the micronational community, King Jacob established the Royal Society, to help further the aims of the Commonwealth of Estaphel on a global platform.

Politics and government

Due to the limited population, the nation has been ruled as an absolute monarchy for its entire history, with King Jacob ruling as King since its establishment. Despite this, throughout his reign King Jacob has frequently taken advice from the citizens of the Commonwealth on policy and governance, and is hopeful of a future in which the transition to a more democratic system can be made.

Foreign relations

On 26 February 2023, the long-lasting policy of isolationism officially ended, with King Jacob joining MicroWiki and the MicroWiki Discord server. Prior to this, King Jacob had undertaken international communications with the United Kingdom government and at times very limited contact with other micronations. In 2016, King Jacob stayed in Germany and enjoyed diplomatic immunity by proxy through a relative with whom he was staying, as he was under 18 years of age. This is considered within the Commonwealth of Estaphel to be the first official state visit to a foreign power.

Culture

Since its establishment in 2014, Estaphel has grown and developed traditions and accumulated an array of points of national enjoyment and celebration. English is considered the main spoken language in the Commonwealth of Estaphel, though there are initiatives to learn various others such as French and Latin, alongside other constructed languages including Anglisc and Esperanto.

Media

The Royal Society operates a cross-provincial library, with the Royal Library at Olic and the Library of Gaines in Springfield. These multi-media libraries are the nation's archives of books, visual media in the forms of Blu-rays, DVDs, and LaserDiscs, music on records and CDs, and magazines.

Holidays

Date	Name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	A day to celebrate the year that has just ended and to think and consider the year ahead.
5 March	King's Day	King Jacob's birthday, and the official anniversary of the beginning of the Commonwealth. This is also the anniversary of the beginning of the King's reign.
25 August	Consort Day	The birthday of the Royal consort.
14 October	National Cinema Day	Date of the King and his consort's anniversary, dedicated to their shared love of cinema.
23 November	Doctor Who Day	National holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Doctor Who - the King's favourite television programme.