Institution

Chief Pleas

1565– · 16th century

The Chief Pleas is the parliament of Sark in the Channel Islands. It began with the holders of the forty tenements into which Helier de Carteret divided the island when he settled it under a charter from Elizabeth I in 1565. Reforms in 2008 replaced the tenants' seats with elected members, ending what was often called the last feudal system in Europe.

Chief Pleas
Image: HaGlaSu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Sark

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Chief Pleas. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/chief-pleas
MLA
“Chief Pleas.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/chief-pleas. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Chief Pleas.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/chief-pleas.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Chief Pleas’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/chief-pleas (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻