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Acting Witan of Mercia

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The Acting Witan of Mercia
PredecessorMercia Movement
Formation17 March 2001 (2001-03-17)
Founded atBirmingham, England
TypePolitical activism, Mercian independence
Websitewww.independentmercia.org
Formerly called
Mercian Constitutional Convention

The Acting Witan of Mercia is a political concept based in the Midlands of England. It is the belief that the United Kingdom is in illegal occupation of the ancient English region of Mercia, as a result of the Norman Conquest and the perceived Norman Yoke, and the Acting Witan claims to be its de jure and acting government.[1][2]

Origins

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The Twenty Shires of Mercia

The Mercia Movement was formed in 1993 to produce the blueprint for the Draft Constitution for Mercia, along with a work entitled 'The Mercia Manifesto: A blueprint for the future inspired by the past'. The Mercian Constitutional Convention was formed in Birmingham on 17 March 2001 and decided to accept the Draft Constitution for Mercia as the basis for its deliberations.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The Convention debated the draft for over two years and passed a series of amendments to it, although the essence of the draft remained the same and most of its content was unaltered. The Convention published the final draft of its work as The Constitution Of Mercia, a 21-page booklet, in 2003. It consisted of 28 Articles and numerous sub-articles and claimed to be 'the ultimate legal authority in Mercia', stated in Article 1.1 to 'comprise its historic twenty shires ([1] Bedfordshire, [2] Buckinghamshire, [3] Cambridgeshire, [4] Cheshire, [5] Derbyshire, [6] Gloucestershire, [7] Herefordshire, [8] Hertfordshire, [9] Huntingdonshire, [10] Leicestershire, [11] Lincolnshire, [12] Middlesex, [13] Northamptonshire, [14] Nottinghamshire, [15] Oxfordshire, [16] Rutland, [17] Shropshire, [18] Staffordshire, [19] Warwickshire and [20] Worcestershire) or such of these as find a common Mercian identity and wish to be included in the region'.[14][15][16][17][18] The Constitution offered a new holistic society in Mercia, based on organic democracy, co-operative community and ecological balance.[19]

Formation and campaigns

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Declaration of Mercian Independence

On 29 May 2003, Jeff Kent, Joyce Millington, and David Bastable issued the "Declaration of Mercian Independence", in Victoria Square, Birmingham, in the heart of the region.[10][20][11][21][22][23] After the declaration, the Convention renamed itself the Acting Witan of Mercia, which aimed to spearhead the full democratisation of the region and the re-establishment of its de facto independence.[19][24][15][17][25][26][27][28] On 29 May 2004, the first Mercian Independence Day anniversary, members of the Acting Witan launched a new currency for the region, the Mercian penny, in Victoria Square, Birmingham, and handed out the coins free to people who registered as citizens of Mercia.[29][30][23] By May 2009, over 2,000 people had registered as Mercian citizens.[31][32] On 26 February 2010, outside the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, in Stoke-on-Trent, the purported "convener of the Acting Witan" (Jeff Kent) and the purported "Acting Sheriff of Staffordshire" (Philip Snow) made a declaration claiming the Staffordshire Hoard to be the property of the citizens of Mercia.[33][34][32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Give Midlands an independence vote like Scotland's, urges Acting Witan of Mercia". 10 September 2014.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Hoard belongs to Mercian kingdom". 27 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Mercia on the Move?". 9 November 2015.
  4. ^ Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 20. 2. 2001, page 5.
  5. ^ Derby Evening Telegraph, 23. 2. 2001.
  6. ^ Wirral News, 28. 2. 2001, page 11.
  7. ^ Enfield Advertiser, 14. 3. 2001, page 6.
  8. ^ Wessex Voice, No. 9, May 2003.
  9. ^ East London Advertiser, page 18, 22. 5. 2003.
  10. ^ a b Bedfordshire on Sunday, 25. 5. 2003.
  11. ^ a b Central News, Central TV, 29. 5. 2003.
  12. ^ The Birmingham Post, 29. 5. 2003, page 4.
  13. ^ The Constitution Of Mercia, The Mercian Constitutional Convention, page 3, ISBN 0-9529152-6-X, Witan Books, 2003.
  14. ^ Burton Mail, 29. 5. 2003, pages 44-45.
  15. ^ a b Sunday Mercury, 14. 10. 2007, pages 12-13.
  16. ^ Express & Star, 19. 10. 2007, page 25.
  17. ^ a b Sunday Mercury, 21. 10. 2007, page 41.
  18. ^ The Constitution Of Mercia, The Mercian Constitutional Convention, ISBN 0-9529152-6-X, Witan Books, 2003.
  19. ^ a b "We Asked the Lunatic Fringe of UK Politics About Their Ideal Britain - VICE - United Kingdom". 26 February 2013.
  20. ^ Buckinghamshire Herald, 28. 5. 2003.
  21. ^ Midlands Today, BBC TV, 29. 5. 2003.
  22. ^ Offa's Dyke Association Newsletter, Number 104, Spring 2007, page 22.
  23. ^ a b The Acting Witan of Mercia minutes and www.independentmercia.org/news.
  24. ^ Northampton Herald & Post, 25. 5. 2006, page 14.
  25. ^ Is it time to get Anglo-Saxon about England's local government?, BBC News - bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17822919, 26. 4. 2012.
  26. ^ The Big Issue, 11-17. 3. 2013, No. 980, pages 1 and 20-21.
  27. ^ "Scottish independence: Could areas of England leave the UK?". BBC News. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  28. ^ The Constitution Of Mercia, back cover blurb, The Mercian Constitutional Convention, ISBN 0-9529152-6-X, Witan Books, 2003.
  29. ^ The Birmingham Post, 29. 5. 2004, page 4.
  30. ^ Widowinde, No. 134, Summer 2004, pages 38-39.
  31. ^ Congleton Chronicle, 11. 3. 2010, page 20.
  32. ^ a b The Acting Witan of Mercia minutes.
  33. ^ "Gold hoard at the Potteries Museum". BBC News. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  34. ^ The Sentinel, 27. 2. 2010, page 2.

Further reading

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  • The English Rebel: One thousand Years of Troublemaking from the Normans to the Nineties, David Horspool, ISBN 978-0-141-02547-6, Penguin Books, 2010.
  • A Radical Reader: The struggle for change in England, 1381-1914, Christopher Hampton (editor), Penguin Books Ltd, 1984.
  • Liberty Against The Law, Essay 5, Robin Hood, and Essay 6, Robin Hood, Possessive Individualism and the Norman Yoke, Christopher Hill, ISBN 0-713-99119-4, The Penguin Press, 1996.
  • The English Resistance: The Underground War Against the Normans, Peter Rex, ISBN 0-7524282-7-6, Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2004.
  • Bondmen Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381, Rodney Hilton, ISBN 9780-4150188-0-7, Routledge, 1995.
  • Puritanism & Revolution, Essay 3, The Norman Yoke, Christopher Hill, ISBN 0-4362032-0-0, Secker & Warburg, 1958.
  • The Mercia Manifesto: A blueprint for the future inspired by the past, The Mercia Movement, ISBN 0-9529152-1-9, Witan Books, 1997.
  • A Draft Constitution For Mercia, The Mercia Movement, ISBN 0-9529152-4-3, Witan Books, 2001.
  • The Constitution Of Mercia, The Mercian Constitutional Convention, ISBN 0-9529152-6-X, Witan Books, 2003.
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