Agnatic seniority

[1] In succession based on rotation (close to seniority), all (male) members of the dynasty were entitled to the monarchy, in principle.

Brothers succeeding each other as a system leads quickly, particularly in the following generations, to complex patterns and also to disputes between branches which have formed within the monarchical house.

In other cases, the eligible branches of dynasty became extinct in the male line (no surviving sons), in which situation the limit was problematic.

Therefore, "pure" agnatic succession was impossible to maintain, and frequent exceptions were made—eligibility being granted to the eldest sons of sisters or other female relatives of the monarch.

In the later Middle Ages, violence directly involving the monarch and his heirs became less of a factor, as they gradually decreased their personal participation in combat.

In addition, the living conditions and nutrition of the nobility improved, leading to fewer miscarriages and decreased infant and childhood mortality.

When Richard was mortally wounded during a castle siege, on his deathbed he named his brother John, Henry II's fourth and youngest son, as his heir.

Arthur argued that as the son of John's older brother Geoffrey, he was the rightful heir of Richard and Henry II according to the laws of agnatic primogeniture which were followed in England and Normandy.

The matter was never definitively decided, as John lost all continental land possessions in France and had to relinquish any claim to rule of Anjou.

However, the principle of agnatic primogeniture later became dominant, although succession to the throne at the death of the monarch could be claimed by any male blood relative of the Emperor—sons, brothers, uncles or cousins.

[citation needed] In Kievan Rus' during the Rurik dynasty, a variant of agnatic seniority known as the rota system gradually evolved over the course of several generations.

While some scholars have supposed that Yaroslav the Wise invented the system all on his own, Martin rejected this idea in favour of every generation contributing a new rule.

[citation needed] In the Piast Kingdom of Poland, the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth enacted in 1138 with the establishment of a Seniorate Province at Kraków led to a centuries-long period of fragmentation of the country among his descendants.