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Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females. According to the Norman tradition, the first-born son inherited the entirety of a parent's wealth, estate, title or office and then would be responsible for any further passing of the inheritance to his siblings. In the absence of children, inheritance passed to the collateral relatives, in order of seniority of the males of collateral lines. Variations on primogeniture modify the right of the first-born son to the entirety of a family's inheritance (see appanage) or, in modern times, eliminate the preference for male over female siblings. Four monarchies in Europe Sweden, Netherlands, Norway and Belgium eliminated the preference and changed to absolute primogeniture in the 1980s and 1990s. In June 2009, Denmark also changed to equal primogeniture.
Contents
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1 Definitions o 1.1 Absolute cognatic primogeniture o 1.2 Agnatic primogeniture o 1.3 Agnatic-cognatic primogeniture o 1.4 Male-preference primogeniture o 1.5 Matrilineal primogeniture o 1.6 Uterine primogeniture 2 Preference for males 3 Arguments in favour 4 Arguments against 5 Historical examples 6 Other methods of succession 7 See also 8 References 9 External links
[edit] Definitions
The type of marriage prevalent in each culture plays a crucial role in the adoption of differing primogenitures. In Christian Europe, the church had a monopoly on the power to sanction marriage. They discouraged polygamy and divorce. Consequently, in Europe, it was extremely difficult to ensure succession solely by direct male line or even by direct offspring. In Islamic, Indian and Oriental cultures, religion either sanctioned the practice of polygamy or use of consorts, or had no power to sanction marriage. Consequently, monarchs could ensure sufficient numbers of male offspring to confirm the succession. In such cultures, female heads of state were rare or non-existent.[citation needed] In Japan, the Meiji emperor was the last to have a female
consort. While the Japanese system still mandates that the heir to the throne must be a male, there is only one male grandchild of the current emperor.
In July 2006, the Nepalese government proposed adopting equal primogeniture.[3], but the monarchy was abolished in 28 May 2008. In Japan, there have been debates over whether to adopt absolute primogeniture, as Princess Aiko is the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito. However, the birth of Prince Hisahito, a son of Prince Akishino (younger brother of Crown Prince Naruhito, and next in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne after Naruhito) has temporarily side-lined the debate. In the United Kingdom, the Succession to the Crown Bill of 2004 proposed changing the line of succession to the British throne to absolute primogeniture. The same proposal is part of the Equality Bill announced in 2008, though shortly after the announcement, the Attorney General announced that there were "no immediate plans to legislate" on that part of the bill.[4] In 2006 and 2009, the Danish parliament voted almost unanimously in favour of a new royal succession law that would allow a first-born child to ascend the throne. This was approved by a referendum held on 7 June 2009.
In 2006, King Juan Carlos I of Spain issued a decree reforming the succession to noble titles from male preference primogeniture to absolute and equal Cognatic Promogeniture, where the first born inherits title regardless of gender.[5][6]
The order of succession for all noble dignitaries is determined in accordance with the title of concession and, if there is none, with that traditionally applied in these cases. When the order of succession to the title is not specified in the nobility title creation charter, the following rules apply:[5]
Absolute preference is given to the direct descending line over the collateral and ascending line, and, within the same line, the closest degree takes precedence over the more remote and, within the same degree, the elder over the younger, combined with the principles of first-born and representation.[5] Men and women have an equal right of succession in Grandee of Spain and nobility titles, and no person may be given preference in the normal order of succession for reasons of gender.[5]
One's agnate may be male or female[7] provided that the kinship is calculated patrilineally; i.e., only through males back to a common ancestor.[7] "Agnatic-cognatic primogeniture" allows female agnates (or their descendants) to inherit once there are no surviving male agnates.[9] The term semi-Salic succession is used in the same meaning. Usually, women do not succeed by application of the same kind of primogeniture as was in effect among males in the family. Rather, the female who is nearest in kinship to the last male monarch of the family inherits, even if another female agnate of the dynasty is senior by primogeniture. Among sisters (and the lines of descendants issuing from them), the elder are preferred to the younger. In reckoning consanguinity or proximity of blood the law defines who among female relatives is "nearest" to the last male. Definitions varied among monarchies where semi-Salic succession was prevalent. This is currently the law of Luxembourg.
A right of succession may also be inherited by a male through a female ancestor or spouse, to the exclusion of any female heir who might be older or of nearer proximity of blood; Spain's midtwentieth century dynastic succession law has been mentioned. In such cases, inheritance was based on uterine kinship[7]. So a king would typically be succeeded by his daughter's husband jure uxoris or by his sister's son. This particular system of inheritance applied to the thrones of the Picts of Northern Britain and the Etruscans of Italy.
Primogeniture prevents the subdivision of estates and diminishes internal pressures to sell property (for example, if two children inherit a house and neither can afford to buy out the other's share). In Western Europe, most younger sons of the nobility had no prospect of inheriting property, and were obliged to seek careers in the Church, in military service, or in government. Wills often included bequests to a monastic order who would take the disinherited son. Many of the Spanish Conquistadors were younger sons who had to make their fortune in war. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, many younger sons of English aristocrats specifically chose to leave England for Virginia in the Colonies. Many of the early Virginians who were plantation owners were such younger sons who had left England fortuneless due to primogeniture laws. These Founding Fathers of the United States of America were nearly universally descended from the landed gentry of England. In Japan, the Imperial chronologies include eight reigning empresses from ancient times up through the Edo period; however, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the
women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century.[12] Empress Gensh (680-748), who succeeded her mother the Empress Gemmei (661-721) on the throne, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.
The fact that the eldest son "scooped the pool" often led to ill-feeling amongst younger sons (and of course daughters). Through marriage, estates inherited by primogeniture were combined and some nobles achieved wealth and power sufficient to pose a threat even to the crown itself. Finally, nobles tended to complain about and resist rules of primogeniture (though this opposition might indicate primogeniture among nobles was good for the king). In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville argues that the abolition of the laws of primogeniture and entail in the law of inheritance of private property (as opposed to inheritance of a monarchy) result in the more rapid division of land and thus force landed people to seek wealth outside the family estate in order to maintain their previous standard of living, accelerating the death of the landed aristocracy and also quickening the shift to democracy.[13]
Since the Middle Ages, the semi-Salic principle was prevalent for the inheritance of feudal land in the Holy Roman Empire: inheritance was allowed through females when the male line expired. Females themselves did not inherit, but their male issue could. For example, a grandfather without sons was succeeded by his grandson, the son of his daughter, although the daughter still lived. Likewise, an uncle without sons of his own was succeeded by his nephew, a son of his sister, even if the sister still lived. Common in feudal Europe outside of Germany was land inheritance based on a form of primogeniture: A lord was succeeded by his eldest son but, failing sons, either by daughters or sons of daughters. In most medieval Western European feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, brothers failing. But usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord, assuming his wife's title with the suffix jure uxoris. In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity of blood and primogeniture competed, and outcomes were at times unpredictable. Proximity meant that an heir closer in degree of kinship to the lord in question was given precedence although that heir was not necessarily the heir by primogeniture.
The Burgundian succession in 1361 was resolved in favor of John, son of a younger daughter, on basis of blood proximity, being a nearer cousin of the dead duke than Charles, grandson of the elder daughter. Proximity sometimes favored younger lines (directly contrary to the outcome from applying primogeniture), since it was more probable that from a younger line, a member of an earlier generation was still alive compared with the descendants of the elder line. In dispute over the Scottish succession, 1290-91, the Bruce family pleaded tanistry and proximity of blood, whereas Balliol argued his claim based on primogeniture. The arbiter, Edward I of England, decided in favor of primogeniture. But later, the Independence Wars reverted the situation in favor of the Bruce, due to political exigency. The Earldom of Gloucester (in the beginning of 14th century) went to full sisters of the dead earl, not to his half-sisters, though they were elder, having been born of the father's first marriage, while the earl himself was from second marriage. Full siblings were considered higher in proximity than half-siblings.
However, primogeniture increasingly won legal cases over proximity in later centuries. Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed, agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as Salic Law) became usual: succession going to the eldest son of the monarch; if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative in the male line. Some countries however accepted female rulers early on, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter. For example, Queen Christina of Sweden succeeded to the throne after the death of her father, King Gustav II Adolf.
In England, primogeniture was mandatory for inheritance of land. Until the Statute of Wills was passed in 1540, a will could control only the inheritance of personal property. Real estate (land) passed to the eldest male descendant by operation of law. The statute added a provision that a landowner could "devise" land by the use of a new device called a "testament". The rule of primogeniture in England was not changed until the Administration of Estates Act in 1925. In law, the rule of inheritance whereby land descends to the oldest son. Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in military tenure (see knight). The effect of this rule was to keep the fathers land for the support of the son who rendered the required military service. When feudalism declined and the payment of a tax was substituted for military service, the need for primogeniture disappeared. In England, consequently, there was enacted the Statute of Wills (1540), which permitted the oldest son to be entirely cut off from inheriting, and in the 17th century military tenure was abolished; primogeniture is, nevertheless, still customary in England. In the United States primogeniture never became widely established.
Agnatic seniority Elective monarchy Civil war, where the last survivor alive is the inheritor. This was usually the case in polygamic societies where the sons would be of different mothers. Gavelkind Lottery Majorat Minorat Rotation (Taking turns: seniority, tanistry, lottery and election are used and practical ways to organize rotation. Rotation may have aimed at some balance between branches of the House or the Clan.) Partible inheritance, sharing (usually equal) among descendants Proximity of blood Tanistry Ultimogeniture Reincarnation In Tibet, the heads of state are often monks and hence cannot produce offspring. Instead, there exists a complicated procedure of discovering the reincarnation of the previous Tulku.
Succession order Salic Law Monarch Heir apparent Heir presumptive Nobility Royal family
[edit] References
1. ^ a b c "Succession strategies in the Pyrenees in the 19th century: The Basque case". http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4H-4H5DYN91&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_search StrId=1113676711&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersio n=0&_userid=10&md5=4ae9185f30a93cc3f5c45dbfcec3b167. 2. ^ SOU 1977:5 Kvinnlig tronfljd, p. 16. 3. ^ "New Kerala". http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=31256. 4. ^ U-turn on royal succession law change, an April 2008 article from The Daily Telegraph 5. ^ a b c d Nobility and Grandee Titles, Spanish Ministry of Justice extracted 05/31/09 6. ^ According to the Spanish Ministry of Justice, the default of the succession is by Absolute Cognatic Primogeniture, but the title holder may designate his successor or distribute titles amongst his children, with the eldest getting the highest ranking title 7. ^ a b c d Murphy, Michael Dean. "A Kinship Glossary: Symbols, Terms, and Concepts". http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/436/kinship.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-05. 8. ^ Velde, Franois (2005-05-19). "Heraldica.org". Documents relating to the Spanish Succession. http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/sp_succ.htm#1947. Retrieved 200711-03. 9. ^ Nordisk familjebok, Tronfljd, 1920; SOU 1977:5 Kvinnlig tronfljd. 10. ^ a b Ttulo II. De la Corona, Wikisource 11. ^ a b The Royal Household of H.M. The King website 12. ^ "Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl," Japan Times. 27 March 2007. 13. ^ de Tocqueville, Alexis (1835). "3-The Social Condition of the Anglo-Americans". Democracy in America.