Primogeniture

Variations have tempered the traditional, sole-beneficiary, right (such as French appanage) or, in the West since World War II, eliminate the preference for males over females (absolute male-preference primogeniture).

The Holy Roman Emperor was chosen by a small number of powerful prince electors from among Imperial magnates, while kings of Poland-Lithuania were elected directly by the nobility.

[2][3][4][5][6][7] Scholars have linked primogeniture to a decline in regicide, as clear rules of succession reduce the number of people who could (absent a coup d'état) replace a ruler, thus making it less desirable to cause the death of the monarch.

The Balobedu Royal Council has not published information concerning its succession norms, but among the Limpopo tribe, it was widely expected that the late Rain Queen's daughter, Masalanabo, would succeed to the queenship upon turning 18.

The preference for males in most systems of primogeniture (and in other mechanisms of hereditary succession) comes mostly from the perceived nature of the tasks and role of the monarch: a monarch/prince (the latter means in Latin, chieftain) most usually was, first and foremost, a military leader, as in the Book of Numbers.

Added to this, on any necessary remarriage from death in childbirth, the king would have socially entrenched powers over his new spouse: financial and any rivalry of a new queen consort by her personal and companions' physical strength was within the chivalric norm far-fetched so far as it might present a challenge to her ruling husband, if proving relatively able.

Times of turbulence were more likely when a queen regnant/female main heir allowed to inherit was married to or remarried to a similar-status foreign leader, as was conventional for high-status women for their family security and diplomacy.

Henry VIII of England did not wait until death and remarried twice on the basis of lack of producing a male heir, on the second occasion beheading his queen "for witchcraft"[citation needed].

A small minority of monarchs in many countries have openly made their heir an illegitimate child; stories abound of others as newborns brought to the expectant queen consort such as to James II of England "in a bedpan.

Eldest daughters could find themselves under a situation of duress on remarriage, and the concept of the trophy bride if the husband were slain is one resonant in many cultures especially before the 20th century[citation needed].

In much of Europe younger sons of the nobility had no prospect of inheriting by death any property, and commonly sought careers in the Church, in military service (see purchase of commissions in the British Army), or in government.

Many of the early Virginians who were plantation owners were younger sons of landed gentry who had left Britain and Ireland fortuneless due to primogeniture.

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville observes that abolition of primogeniture and entail as to property results in faster division of land.

[19] However, primogeniture, in forcing landless people to seek wealth outside the family estate to maintain their standard of living accelerated the death of the landed aristocracy and, in his view, thus, quickened the shift to democracy.

In Islamic and Asian cultures, religious officials and customs either sanctioned polygyny, use of consorts, or both, or they had no authority of marriage; monarchs could consequently ensure sufficient numbers of male offspring to assure succession.

[25] Although the eldest son typically carried his father's name in some form, he was expected to construct his own career based on competence as an administrator or general and on remaining in favor with the emperor and his council at court.

[27] Most Roman emperors indicated their choice of successor, usually a close family member or adopted heir, and the presumption that the eldest or even a natural son would inherit was not enshrined.

[23] Adam Smith, in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, explains the origin of primogeniture in Europe in the following way: [W]hen land was considered as the means, not of subsistence merely, but of power and protection, it was thought better that it should descend undivided to one.

Then in 1328, after the death of Charles IV, his paternal cousin, Philip, Count of Valois, became king, notwithstanding the claims of Edward III of England.

Other states adopted Salic primogeniture as well, including Belgium, Sweden, Denmark (in 1853) and all of the eastern European monarchies except Greece, i.e. Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia.

During this era, Spain (in the Carlist conflicts) fought a civil war which pitted the Salic and female-line heirs of the ruling dynasty against one another for possession of the crown.

Notable English exceptions are the Duchy of Lancaster, which is merged with the British Crown which has included women in inheritance since the 16th century, and the Dukedom of Marlborough, which has done so since its establishment in 1702.

A variation of this form of primogeniture allowed the sons of female dynasts to inherit, but not women themselves, an example being the Francoist succession to the throne of Spain that was applied in 1947–1978.

A case of agnatic primogeniture is exemplified in the French royal milieu, where the Salic Law (attributed to the Salian Franks) forbade any inheritance of a crown through the female line.

Insofar as the succession is concerned, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the successor state to the Principality of (Orange-)Nassau-Dietz, which was given in exchange to William VI of Nassau, Prince of Orange, in 1813.

A few prominent examples in medieval times include the following queens by country - In England all land passed to any widow strictly for life, then by primogeniture.

Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in military tenure (see knight).

An ancient and alternative way in which women succeeded to power, especially without displacing the direct male line descendants of the first monarchs, was consortium or coregency between husband and wife or other relatives.

Carole Shammas argues that issues of primogeniture, dower, curtesy, strict family settlements in equity, collateral kin, and unilateral division of real and personal property were fully developed in the colonial courts.

[33] When Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met at Placentia Bay in August 1941, Roosevelt said he could not understand the British aristocracy's concept of primogeniture, and he intended to divide his estate equally between his five children; Churchill explained that an equal distribution was nicknamed the Spanish Curse by the British upper classes: "We give everything to the eldest and the others strive to duplicate it and found empires.