Principality of Kolios

Principality of Kolios
Flag Coat of Arms
Capital city	Agber
Official language(s)	English
Short name	Kolios
Government	Absolute Monarchy
- Sovereign	Princess Arlene
- Chancellor	Nicholas Young
Established	20 September 1995 (as Kingdom of Kolios) 7 January 1998 (as Principality of Kolios)
Population	29
Currency	Gulden
National animal	Wolf

The Principality of Kolios is a micronation existing within Germany in Augsburg, Bavaria. Kolios was founded on 20 September 1995 as the Kingdom of Kolios by a group of elementary school students whose parents were stationed in Augsburg with the United States Army. The project was reimagined in early 1998 as a principality within the Empire of Agber.

The Kingdom of Kolios

Conception and Founding

Kolios' borders imposed on a modern-day aerial view of the location.

In 1995, three friends began discussing a book one of them had been gifted for his birthday on the Order of Malta. This led to a fair amount of research and discussion on what it would be like to establish a country of their own. These early discussions primarily took place in local playgrounds and libraries. After a number of weeks and the addition of three other youths, a decision was made to found their own country as the Kingdom of Kolios on 20 September 1995.

The choice of name for the nation itself seems to have been lost to time. The only other known usage of the name is that of a beach on the island of Skiathos in the northwest Aegean Sea, off of the Greek mainland. The names of the capital and administrative districts are taken from the names of the housing neighborhoods of Augsburg's military community, at the time.

Reign of King Stephen

Kolios' first monarch was King Stephen. His reign makes up the bulk of Kolios as a wholly sovereign Kingdom. Under his rule, the nation developed its military, heraldry, and two orders of chivalry. During this era, Kolios engaged in a brief series of battles with a rival claim for their lands made by a group pf schoolmates. The details and outcome are unknown at this time, but Kolios' continued existence points towards either their victory or a truce.

This period also oversaw the establishment of the Rose Throne. This was a small chamber hacked out of the middle of a large growth of rose bushes. In order to make access to this location more difficult, the path to it was obfuscated with the creation of a maze of additional paths.

King Stephen reigned from the nation's founding until 24 May 1997, when he abdicated the throne and then Princess Arlene ascended the throne as the nation's second monarch and first Queen. The reason for his abdication was his family's move on orders from the US Army.

Reign of Queen Arlene

Kolios' flag during era as a Kingdom, later adopted by the Empire of Agber.

Ascending to the throne upon the abdication of King Stephen, Queen Arlene reigned as Queen of Kolios for less than a year before ascending to the role of Empress of Agber. During this time, she made a number of appointments, and named the former King as the Duke of a newly-formed Duchy known as Reese, whose lands were carved out of the Duchy of Cramer.

Government of Kolios as a Kingdom

Kolios was an absolute monarchy, with a number of powers given to the Chancellor, the sovereign's right hand and chief advisor. This role was held by the Margrave of Sulli. A number of proclamations and edicts were made, but the specifics of these have been lost to time. Aside from the positions of Sovereign and Chancellor and district administrators, the following known roles existed:

• General - Duke James of Cramer
• Captain of the Guard - Margrave Jordan of Sulli
• Chief Heraldist - Duke Thomas of Fryar
• Head of the Koliosian Church - Queen Arlene

The Principality of Kolios

In 1998, after her family moved from Augsburg, Germany, to Fort Drum, New York, Queen Arlene of Kolios decided to revamp the project as the Empire of Agber, using the capital of Kolios as the seat of a self-declared Empire. Kolios was redesignated as a Principality on 7 January 1998, as part of the establishment of the Empire of Agber. As Kolios' throne was then also seat of the Empire, the Principality has been referred to as the "crown jewel of the Empire." Aside from the restructuring at the upper levels of Koliosian governance, a number of other changes occurred. These included:

• Redesignating Kolios' highest order, the Sanctified Order of the Crucifix, as an order of the Empire of Agber. The Order of Kolios was made the only order exclusive to Kolios.
• Design of a new flag for Kolios as a Principality. The flag of the Kingdom of Kolios was adopted as the flag of the Empire of Agber.
• Designation of Kolios as a "realm of preservation." Out of respect to the other five founders, their landed titles were not revoked or reassigned. This effectively has made all Koliosian administration handled by the offices of the throne and Chancellor.

In 2013 the Empire solidified its primary existence as a vehicle to Renaissance Fair events and culture. As part of this move, it was decided that Kolios would formally shift its culture to reflect more of that of the Holy Roman Empire. Owing primarily to Kolios not having active citizens, and Empress Arlene's focus on the running of the Empire, it has had little activity throughout its history.

Changes as a Result of the Indiana Proclamation

Kolios was one of the most significantly affected nations by the restructuring of the Empire of Agber to an elective monarchy that occurred on 18 June 2020, as a result of the Indiana Proclamation. The single most significant was that the Capital District of Agber and the Rose Throne would no longer serve as the official seat of the Empire, rather they would serve as such only while Empress Arlene reigned as head of Agber. As part of that change, Kolios' capital was renamed Vindelkrieg. The name is a combination of Vindel (taken from the original Roman name for the city, Augusta Vindelicorum) and krieg (taken from the name of the city region the lands of Kolios fall under Kriegshaber). The name change was to limit future confusion should a non-Koliosian sit the Imperial Throne.

The move to an elective monarchy still meant Arlene would serve as both Empress of Agber and Princess of Kolios, but significantly altered the relationship between the two titles. Effectively, she would still serve as Empress, but her eventual successor, Emperor Devon, was elected from the heads of the nations within the Empire, when she abdicated. Due to the new structure, her role as Princess of Kolios was official as part of qualifying her to be Empress, instead of a ceremonial title held because of her role as Empress.

During this time, the Sanctified Order of the Crucifix was returned to its status as a Koliosian award. While it had originally been the highest Koliosian honor, it was decided that the Order of Kolios would remain as the highest order of the Principality.

Recent Events

On 29 March 2021, Arlene abdicated her role as Empress of Agber. Shortly after this action, she announced a number of plans for Kolios moving forward. This included more focus on Koliosian culture, and the creation of two new awards (the Order of the Rose Throne and the Friendship Cross of Kolios). Citing an inability to maintain activity levels where desired and an intent to focus more on her coursework, Princess Arlene announced on 5 July 2021 that she would be placing Kolios in a Regency period under Chancellor Young. This Regency period will end on 26 February 2022 at noon MST. At that time Princess Arlene will abdicate the throne in favor of Margrave Jordan of Sulli.

Future as the Protectorate of Kolios

Princess Arlene first floated the idea of abdicating and naming Margrave Jordan of Sulli as her successor in late 2020. Given his active role at the time as Prime Minister of Westarctica, Jordan informed her that wouldn't be possible, and that she should find someone else to reign instead. When the Princess made it clear to Jordan that she did not feel there was anyone else viable, he began working for a solution to what he would refer to as "the Kolios problem."

This problem, and Jordan would put it, needed to allow him to honor his commitment to the office of Prime Minister of Westarctica. Constitutionally, as Prime Minister, he was prohibited from concurrent service in the government of another nation. At the same time, he wanted to ensure Kolios' survival. Without an identifiable noble willing to take the throne, Jordan floated the possibility of making Kolios a colony of Westarctica. While a number of objections were raised by Kolios' nobles, the majority consensus was that this would only be acceptable if the role of Prince of Kolios was somehow preserved, as a possible future path back to sovereignty.

In early 2021, Jordan brought an idea to Grand Duke Travis of a way to accomplish both of the goals he had, regarding the two nations. Parties from Kolios and Westarctica began negotiations in April of 2021 for the wording of the treaty that would place Kolios under Westarctican authority. The final agreement for the phrasing and content was reached on 18 August 2021. As the treaty is intended to be signed in Marana, Arizona, the document has been known as the Marana Accords.

As of 26 February 2022, Kolios will enter into a treaty with the Grand Duchy of Westarctica and will become a territorial holding, at which it will officially become known as the Westarctican Protectorate of Kolios.

Before the accords are signed, Margrave Jordan, who will ascend the throne as Prince Garibald, will govern as sovereign for a planned period of "a few hours, at most." During this time, he intends to sign a number of "Princely Edicts." These are aimed at setting up the transition, bringing Kolios more in line with Westarctica, and to make changes to the nation's structure and society.

These changes have been met with mixed reactions by the active Koliosian citizens.

Government

The head of Kolios is Princess Arlene, who sits on the figurative and literal Rose Throne of Kolios. The Prince or Princess serves for life. As she does not currently have any children, she has named Margrave Jordan of Sulli as her successor.

Given her previous role as Empress of Agber, Arlene has appointed a Chancellor, Nicholas Young, to serve as both an advisor, and to aid in the running of the Principality. This was initially to ensure that the administration of Kolios did not suffer due to her added duties. After abdicating the Agberian throne, Princess Arlene announced that Young would be staying on as Chancellor. As the Principality is currently in a Regency status, the day to day operations fall to Chancellor Young.

After transitioning to its new existence as the Protectorate of Kolios, the monarchy will be abolished. Although it will continue as a social construct, as part of the nobility of Kolios, the government will be controlled entirely by Westarctica. The specifics of what this will entail have yet to be revealed.

Mediatization

Kolios' nobility exists in a structured hierarchy. This exists in four tiers, the highest of which is the Principality. This level exists with all districts reporting directly to it. Each individual district can be broken down further, depending on the level. For example, Duchies can be subdivided into three or four Margravates. Margravates can then be divided into three or four Baronies. Sulli and Sheridan are unique in that there are no intermediaries between them and the Princess of Kolios. This mediatization is not required, and is added at the discretion of the Princess.

Shortly after abdicating from the throne of the Empire of Agber, Princess Arlene announced that the Duchy of Fryar would be opened up for mediatization, along with possibly "filling out" the room for new nobles under the structure of the Duchy of Cramer. In total, this will allow for up to five new Margravates and twenty-two new Baronies.

This structure will be abolished as part of Margrave Jordan's planned changes when he takes the throne. It will be replaced by a system that is intended to blend aspects of traditional nobility with a meritocracy via relegation as a component of inheriting noble titles.

Outline of Structure

• Principality of Kolios - Princess Arlene

• Cramer - Duke James

• Flak - Margrave Maximillian

• Grunkachen - Baroness Samantha
• Nemeta - Baroness Olivia
• Raeta - Baron Jeremy
• Schwarzvogel - Baron Lukas

• Gelblowe - Margravess Kendra

• Blauschien - Baron Matthew
• Haunsett - Baroness Nicole and Baron Trevor
• Weissweld - Baron Hal

• Vemyr - Margrave Franz and Margrave William

• Forndran - Baroness Jeanine
• Mahntel - Baroness Amber
• Wilkes - Baroness Lauren

• Fryar - Duke Thomas
• Reese - Duke Stephen
• Sulli - Margrave Jordan
• Sheridan - Baroness Lacey Marie

Districts

The Kingdom of Kolios was initially broken up into a Capital District, four Precincts, and one special Administrative Region. Shortly before being reorganized as a Principality within the Empire of Agber, a fifth Precinct, Reese, was added.

Level	Name	Arms	Administrator	Etymology	Notes
Capital District	Vindelkrieg		Princess Arlene	Combination of the original Roman name for the city and the city region Kolios falls under.	Location of the Rose Throne, former seat of the Empire of Agber. Changed from Agber in 2020, to avoid confusion with the Empire of Agber.
Precinct	Cramer		Duke James	From "Cramerton," a senior enlisted housing district	Originally contained Pix Market and Saint Thomas Cathedral
Precinct	Fryar		Duke Thomas	From "Fryar Circle," an officer's housing district	Contains ceremony grounds
Precinct	Reese		Duke Stephen	From "Reese Kaserne," a military operations district	Lands were originally part of Cramer Precinct
Precinct	Sheridan		Baroness Lacey Marie	From "Sheridan Kaserne," a military operations district	Contains battleground
Precinct	Sulli		Margrave Jordan	From "Upper and Lower Sullivan," a pair of enlisted housing areas
Administrative Region	The Dead Lands		Duke Thomas Margrave Jordan (as Wardens of the Dead Lands)		Contains an 18th century Jewish cemetery. Is to be renamed Ben Ulmo National Memorial in February 2022.

Culture

Religion

While all faiths are welcomed with open arms, the official religion of the Kingdom (and the greater Empire) is Christian. Although the fact that both monarchs identified as Catholic gives Kolios certain theological leanings.

In February of 2022, the government is to be secularized. While religious freedom will still be legal and encouraged, no state-sanctioned faith or denomination will exist.

Orders of Chivalry

Kolios currently has two orders specific to the nation, the Order of Kolios and the Sanctified Order of the Crucifix.

Originally the lower of the two orders, the Order of Kolios was rendered to be Kolios' one and only in early 1998. This order has three ranks:

• The rank of Knight/Dame is awarded a medal with a green tri-fold suspension.
• Knights/Dames Commander are authorized the wear of the regalia suspended from a green ribbon necklet.
• Knights/Dames Grand Cross are authorized the wear of the regalia worn as a breast star, and also an accompanying green sash with a breast star.

The Sanctified Order of the Crucifix originated as a Koliosian award. The order was converted to one for the Empire of Agber in 1998. This order is limited to 24 persons and has a single rank (Knight/Dame). Members of this order were encouraged to wear a crucifix in their day to day lives, while a red sash and breast star are worn for ceremonies and formal affairs. The order was returned to Koliosian control in 2020. Margrave Jordan has stated his intent to reassign control of the order to his noble house when he takes the Rose Throne, as part of his eforts to secularize the Koliosian Government.

A third order was announced in early 2021: The Order of the Rose Throne, it is unclear if the announcement constituted an official establishment or not. As of 16 August 2021, no awards of the order have been bestowed, and no further development has been announced by Princess Arlene.

After transitioning to its new Protectorate status, the Order of Kolios will be the nation's only active order. The Order of the Rose Throne will not be abolished, but as the monarchy will not exist, no new inductions into the order will occur. Control of the Sanctified Order of the Crucifix will be transferred to the newly created House Bärenhalb.