Editing Seigneur of Sark (section)

==Description==
{{see|Sark#Politics}}
The title is hereditary, but with permission of [[The Crown#Crown Dependencies|the Crown]], it may be mortgaged or sold, as happened in 1849 when [[Pierre Carey le Pelley]] sold the fief to [[Marie Collings]] for £6,000.<ref name="Marr">{{cite book |last=Marr |first=James |author-link=James Marr (author) |title=Guernsey people |date=1984 |isbn=0850335299 |publisher=Phillimore }}</ref>

The Seigneur was, before the [[Sark#Transition to new system of government|constitutional reforms of 2008]], the head of the feudal government of Sark, with the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]] being the feudal overlord. The Seigneur had a suspensive veto power and the right to appoint most of the island's officers. Many of the laws, particularly those related to inheritance and the rule of the Seigneur, had changed little since Queen [[Elizabeth I]], by [[Royal charters applying to the Channel Islands|Letters Patent]], granted a [[fief]]dom to [[Hellier de Carteret]] in 1565.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-33801594|title=Sark marks 450 years of Royal Charter|publisher=BBC|date=6 August 2015|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sepacstamps.eu/jersey-post-celebrates-the-island-of-sark/|website=SEPAC|title=Jersey Post celebrates the island of Sark|date=16 July 2015|quote="On 6 August 1565, Helier De Carteret, the Seigneur of the parish of St Ouen in Jersey, was granted the Isle of Sark by Queen Elizabeth I. Sark was thereby made an inheritable fief, which Helier held from the Crown of England on certain conditions: he had to maintain at least forty men to defend the Island from pirates, do homage to the sovereign and pay an annual 1/20th part of a knight’s fee."}}</ref>

The residents of Sark voted to introduce a fully elected legislature to replace the [[Feudalism|feudal]] government in a [[September 2006 Sark electoral system referendum|2006 referendum]],<ref>{{cite news| title=After four centuries, Sark gives power to the people|newspaper=Times Online|date=5 October 2006|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2389102.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202062756/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2389102.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2 December 2008|accessdate=2007-08-20 | location=London | first=Simon | last=de Bruxelles}}</ref> and the law change was approved on 9 April 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=After 450 years, Sark turns back on feudal law|newspaper=The Independent|date=10 April 2008|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/after-450-years-sark-turns-back-on-feudal-law-807006.html | location=London | first=Mark | last=Hughes | accessdate=2010-05-08}}</ref> The [[2008 Sark general election|first democratic election]] was held on 10 December 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=European feudalism finally ends as Sark heads for democracy|work=[[The Independent]]|date=11 December 2008|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/european-feudalism-finally-ends-as-sark-heads-for-democracy-1061281.html|accessdate=11 December 2008}}</ref> The changes in the political system mostly apply to the parliament, the [[Chief Pleas]], not to the Seigneur.{{fact|date=May 2022}}

Many seigneurs are buried at St. Peter's Anglican Church, Sark.{{fact|date=May 2022}}