Kingdom of Custosia

Kingdom of Custosia
Flag Flag Coat of arms Coat of arms
Motto: "Loyalty, Prosperity, Nobility"
Anthem: "God Save the King"
Claims of Custosia
Capital	Edwardia
Largest city	Crofton
Official languages	English
Demonym(s)	Custosian
Government	Federal constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Edward I
• Co-Prime Ministers	Ava Neasa Christopher Woods
Establishment	23 April 2017
Population
• (as of 2017 census) census	20
Currency	United States dollar
This nation is a member of the Christian League of Micronations

Custosia, officially called the Kingdom of Custosia, or the Third Kingdom of Custosia, was an independent micronation founded on 23 April 2017. Custosia is located in North America and is completely bordered by the United States. The capital of Custosia wass Edwardia. It was named after Edward of Custosia, the founder of Custosia. Custosia is a non-contiguous nation, consisting of two separate provinces. Edwardia wass technically considered one of the smallest provinces in Custosia by land size, however, there are six inhabitants in Edwardia, making Edwardia the most populous province in Custosia.

Custosia wass inhabited by descendants of various European-Americans. The lands of Custosia were once ruled by Iroquois until Dutch settlers and explorers and British settlers and explorers drove the Iroquois out of the area. From 1776, the land was then owned by the United States after it's victory in the American Revolutionary War. In 2017, Custosia began to modernize, officially setting the foundation for the Fiefdom of Custosia on 20 February 2017. On 23 April 2017, Custosia officially succeeded from Siar Fordell to reestablish the kingdom.

Custosia was a Federal constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister is the head of government and King Edward I was the head of state. The Monarch's rule was mainly ceremonial with limited executive power. A constitution was written by King Edward I to establish a new, democratic monarchy in which the people have representation in government. Ava Neasa and Christopher Woods was elected the first Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Custosia on 24 May 2017.

According to Dresner's System of Classification, Custosia scored a 2.0 on the ranking system as of June, 2017.

Etymology

The name "Custosia" derives from the Latin word custos meaning "guardian or keeper" and the Latin suffix -ia meaning "land or state". Ultimately, Custosia could mean "Land of the Guardian" or "State of the Keeper". The name is a reference to Custosia's patron saint, Saint Michael the Archangel who is the guardian of the Catholic Church and defeated Satan in the War in Heaven. The name could also be a reference to the founding father of Custosia, Edward I who was reguarded as the guardian and protector of the nation when it was an absolute monarchy. The name also reflects the views of Custosians and how they wish to defeat evil or anyone who comes in their way of their values, culture, well-being, etc. Custosians pay patronage to St. Micheal solely every September 30. This day is known as St. Michael's Day in Custosia and is an important holiday in the cultural aspect of Custosia.

Pre-micronational history

Dutch colonization (1614-1674)

Map of New Netherland

Before micronationalism ever was a discussion in present day Custosia, the land was once colonized by the Dutch Republic. Exploring of the New World for the Dutch began in 1602 when the Dutch East India Company was founded. The company wanted to explore North America's rivers and bays for a passage to the East Indies. The Dutch explorers apart of the company were given orders to claim any uncharted land that they were to come across for the Dutch Republic. This lead to several expeditions over time and eventually the foundation of the Dutch province of New Netherland. By 1610, the Dutch East India Company authorized Henry Hudson, an Englishman, to discover a northwest passage to the East Indies. Today, the lands discovered by the Dutch and Henry Hudson are presently apart of the Kingdom of Custosia.

On March 27, 1610 the General Charter of Those who Discover any New Passages, Havens, Countries or Places was announced. It stated, "the said undertaking to be laudable, honorable, and serviceable for the prosperity of the United Provinces and wishing that the experiment be free and open to all and every of the inhabitants of this country, have invited and do hereby invite all and every of the inhabitants of the United Netherlands to the aforesaid search." This allowed for massive explorations throughout present day New York and further beyond New York into present day New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland.

In 1665, the Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out which would lead to the Dutch giving up New Netherland in exchange for Suriname. In 1673 to 1674, the Dutch briefly took the New Netherland colony back but would have to lose it again to England in the Treaty of Westminster.

English-British colonization (1664-1776)

After the Dutch were conquered by the English, they renamed the Dutch colony to New York, officially establishing the Province of New York. The province was named after James, Duke of York. In 1664, the Province of New York was named a royal colony by James II of England with a propriety government.

Micronational history

Prehistory

Recreation of the original Edwardian flag

Before the official founding of Custosia, there were many "test and trial" states that were founded beforehand. Edward I, current King of Custosia and founder of Custosia, discovered the idea and principals of micronationalism in mid to late 2015. Documentaries that brought upon inspiration and more of a reason to create a micronation were discovered by Edward I. Those documentaries include but are not limited to, How to Start Your Own Country and A Tiny Spark. These documentaries helped motivate Edward to learn about the history of micronations and how people go about creating their very own country. Finally on September 20, 2015, Edward officially founded his first micronation, the Kingdom of Edwardia. Edwardia was a small nation at the time and only held claim to a very small but populous piece of land. Upon founding the nation, Edward talked to his fellow schoolmates and friends and influenced them to start their very own micronation. His friends were enthralled at the fact of creating your very own nation and agreed to create their own micronations too. Edwardia would only have relations with two micronations that his friends founded. The Democracy of the Long Isle and the Kingdom of Cydonia. Not much was accomplished with these nations. The Democracy of Long Isle however discovered the Forums and found that more people like him were also micronationalists and were involved in more advanced community related discussions and diplomacy with other micronations from around the world. Upon discovering the forums, MicroWiki was also discovered at that time. Edward was now more than convinced that micronationalism was an interest from around the world and was more inspired by this. However, this would lead to a major historical time period in pre-Custosian to Custosian history known as the Disarray Era.

Disarray Era (2015-2017)

The Disarray Era also known as the Dark Ages of Pre-Custosia, was a drastic time in history when nations that Edward founded immediately would collapse or would not have a stable government or foundation. The Disarray Era began on October 29, 2015. This was the date that Edward decided to give up the claims of Edwardia to the Democracy of the Long Isle. Since that date, there were many failed states that were created. From the ashes rose what could have been a stable nation for Custosia, but would eventually fall. This nation was known as the Vlastist State of Luktonia, which was founded in April 2016. Before the creation of the Vlastist State, Luktonia was one of the many micronations founded previously after the time when Edwardia fell. Luktonia was originally a republic but Edward decided to change the government to a more authoritarian regime. It was based on an ideology created by Edward known as Vlastism. Vlastism was an ideology that insisted on combining elements of the ideologies Fascism and Communism into one united ideology. The name was derived from the Russian word "vlast" which means authority. The Vlastist State saw a great rise in hope when it successfully launched a model rocket dubbed Ayris I into the sky about 100 ft and brought it down to the Earth's surface safely. The nation began experimenting with the idea of model rocketry by creating a space agency known as the Vlastist Space Agency. It had future intentions to launch more advanced rockets into space and possibly launch a model rocket into space and record the event on a onboard camera. Unfortunately, but for the greater good, the Vlastist State collapsed amid inspirations from Democracy. Not much is known after the Vlastist State collapsed, but it is considered that Edward went inactive from micronations until July 2016. Amid Edward's return to micronationalism, Custosia would be born.

First Kingdom (Disarray Era)

The Grand Principality of Custosia was founded on July 16, 2016. This was the first recorded date in Custosian history when the name Custosia was used officially for the new nation. At the time Custosia still claimed a small but populous land. During this period, Custosia would join the Forums. On July 22, Edward would officially join the forums and introduce his small and new nation of Custosia. Because of this, Edward discovered even more micronations and more micronationalists from across the world. Eventually, Custosia would change it's name to a Grand Principality to the Kingdom of Custosia. This name change was due to the fact that Custosia gained more land and thought a principality was more for a smaller state. Custosia gained two more pieces of land. It is not known what the name of these land claims were called and titled. They went through many changes since then. Over time from influence of the forums, the First Kingdom of Custosia would go through drastic reforms and many changes which made the nation very unstable. Eventually, on October 7, 2016, the First Kingdom of Custosia would collapse.

New Custosia (Disarray Era)

After October 7, Custosia would go through a small state of inactivity. On October 10, inspired by ideas of republicanism, Edward founded the Republic of New Custosia. New Custosia was meant to be a incarnation of Custosia after it's fall as a absolute monarchy. However, since the nation was a democracy and citizens were needed in order to appoint government officials, New Custosia would eventually fall because of that. Attempts to preserve the republic were made on December 30, 2016. Unfortunately, New Custosia would dissolve on January 1, 2017.

Second Kingdom (Disarray Era)

In January 2017, Edward was convinced to bring back the Custosian monarchy. The Second Kingdom was founded in order to bring back the monarchy and the early days of Custosia. At the time, the Grand Unified Micronational was a highly discussed topic on the forums. Edward wanted Custosia to join the GUM in order to have a stable and secured government as well as advice and diplomacy with other nations. However, the GUM delegates turned down the option for Custosia to join saying that the nation was to unstable and did not have a clearly defined foundation. Feeling discouraged, Edward would yet again dissolve the Second Kingdom and move on.

Fiefdom of Custosia

After the fall of the Second Kingdom, Edward felt lost in his micronational experience. He wanted to return, but needed advice on how to successfully run a nation. In February 2017, Siar Fordell offered Edward feudal tenure to establish a fiefdom within Siar Fordell. Edward agreed to this because Siar Fordell was open to help give advice. Custosia would also benefit from this because they would gain knowledge on military, economy, nobility, and ruling a stable nation. On February 20, 2017, Custosia would officially through treaty, join Siar Fordell. The Fiefdom of Custosia was founded and officially established a stable and well governed nation. Edward would be given the title, Lord of Custosia and would rule the Fiefdom from February 20, 2017 till April 23, 2017. During this time, Edward would introduce democracy into Custosia and voting took place. The LGBTQ referendum was the first democractic referendum in Custosia. The second referendum was the Custosian Independence referendum. On April 19, 2017, Custosians voted to leave Siar Fordell and re-establish the Kingdom of Custosia. The Fiefdom and stability from Siar Fordell helped establish Custosia's modern era.

Third Kingdom to present

The Third Kingdom of Custosia, also known as the Kingdom of Custosia is the current incarnation of Custosia. It was founded on April 23, 2017. Presently, the Kingdom is an absolute monarchy, but is awaiting a new government reform after the Prime ministerial election. Prior to the elections, Edward I repealed the Anti-LGBTQ Act which made Custosia's relations better across the community. The new government system is a constitutional monarchy, with clear divides between the Prime Minister and the King. After the elections, a coalition government between the Green-Socialist Party and the Royalist Party was formed under the constitutional monarchy. On June 8, 2017 Custosia officially made relations with a foreign micronation, Mahuset. It was the first time since 2016 that Custosia has officially established diplomatic relations. On 12 June 2017, King Edward's Diplomatic Charter of the Kingdom of Custosia was officially approved by the Co-Ministers. This now allows foreign micronations to approve a set of credentials before establish diplomatic relations. On 1 July 2017, the Kingdom of Custosia joined the Christian League of Micronations. On 24 July 2016, an altered draft of King Edward's constitution was finally signed by the final signatory, Co-Minister Artemis which officially adopted the constitution.

Government

Monarch

The Kingdom of Custosia was a federal constitutional monarchy. The head of state was the Monarch of Custosia. The following points weree the duties of the Monarch of Custosia.

• The Monarch was a ceremonial figure in Custosia.
• The Monarch could propose and veto certain laws.
• The Monarch could make public decrees.
• The Monarch could suspend the government.
• The Monarch was responsible for foreign relations and diplomatic discussions aboard.

Prime Minister

The head of government was the Prime Minister of Custosia. The following points were the duties of the Prime Minister of Custosia.

• The Prime Minister could pass laws in Custosia.
• The Prime Minister could create laws in Custosia.
• The Prime Minister could approve laws made by the Monarch.
• The Prime Minister could report to the Monarch about certain laws.
• The Prime Minister could form a Committee to assist the legislative aspect of government.

Most of these points listed here were established on 19 June 2017 when the Constitution of the Kingdom of Custosia was ratified or when the Monarch de facto established them.

Foreign relations

• Confederation of Mahuset - since 8 June 2017
• Abeldane Empire - since 18 June 2017
•  Empire of Nedlando-Khorașan - since 20 June 2017

Geography and climate

Geography

the Catskills

Custosia was located in the State of New York in the United States. Custosia's administrative divisions are divided into Provinces. Currently, there were two provinces that make up Custosia's administrative divisions. These provinces are Edwardia, which was the Provincial Capital of Custosia and Crofton, the most northern province of Custosia and the largest. On April 16, 2017, the Denland Province seceded from the Fiefdom of Custosia and rejoined the United States. Most of Custosia's land is either very elevated or very low to sea level especially in Edwardia.

A beach on the Great South Bay

Custosia's geography is very distinct to the nation. The Provincial Capital of Edwardia was located on Long Island, New York. Edwardia was known for being very close to Great South Bay which contributes to some of the culture in Custosia. Edwardia was famous for fishing in the region and for Tropical cyclones which may form in the area. In the northerly province of Crofton, it was well known for it's vast scenery and forests. It is located within the Catskill Mountains which are visible from Custosia. Crofton was the largest province with almost six acres of land. Edwardia wass currently unknown for it's size because the borders had been redrawn by American citizens.

Provinces

So far, Custosia only comprises of two federal provinces. Here is a list of those provinces.

Coat of arms	Province	Founded	Pop.	Macronation	Governor
	Edwardia	20 February 2017	7	United States	Edward I
	Crofton	20 February 2017	3	United States	vacant

Climate

According to the Köppen climate, The Provincial Capital of Edwardia is in a Humid subtropical climate. In the Province of Crofton, the Köppen climate is Warm-summer humid continental climate. The average temperature in Custosia ranges from 39 °F to 53 °F. Temperatures in Crofton are much warmer in the Summer due to it's high elevation. In Edwardia, Summer temperatures are very hot as well. In the Winter, tempatures are drastically different in Crofton and frequent blizzards often occur in the area. Due to Edwardia's location near the bay and ocean, most major snow storms are avoided, but temperatures are still very cold. hurricanes and tropical storms are very much a threat to Edwardia during hurricane season. The last major hurricane to hit present day Edwardia was Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The storm completely flooded the area, decimating the land for the years to come.

Culture

Custosia's culture was very much inspired from the Anglosphere and Anglo-American culture. Custosia's culture can be described as very old fashioned in some ways. Most 21st century culture wass often rejected in Custosia. Custosia primarily liked to accept the cultures and lifestyles from the 18th century to the middle to late 20th century. However, some aspects of the 21st century as been incorporated into Custosia such as the rise of technology. Custosia does not currently haved it's own culture, but was starting to slowly grow one.

Language

English wa the official language

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The official language of Custosia is English. Some Custosians were able to speak in other languages such as German, Italian, Russian and Polish. There wasn't no developed language spoken within Custosia currently, however, attempts were made to create a Custosian language that rooted from many of the Germanic language families.

National Holidays

The following holidays pertain only to Custosia. Christian holidays, United States holidays and international holidays are not listed. St. Michael's Day is the only exception in this list because it has it's own tradition and celebration in Custosia.

Name	Date	Notes
Accession Day	February 20	Commemorating and celebrating the day that Custosia entered Siar Fordell as a fiefdom in 2017.
Independence Day	April 23	Commemorating and celebrating the day that Custosia seceded from Siar Fordell in 2017.
Custosian National Day	July 16	Commemorating and celebrating the day that the first Custosian state was founded in 2016. Official national day of Custosia.
Constitution Day	July 24	Commemorating and celebrating the rights and freedoms of Custosia as well as the adoption of the Custosian Constitution.
Micronational Day	September 20	Commemorating and celebrating the day that micronationalism was discovered by Edward I in 2015.
St. Michael's Day	September 30	Celebrating the feast of Custosia's patron saint.

References

1. Dutch colonization of the Americas
2. New Netherland
3. Province of New York