In hereditary succession, the heir is automatically determined by pre-defined rules and principles. It can be further subdivided into horizontal and vertical methods, the former favoring siblings, whereas vertical favors children and grandchildren of the holder.
Male-preference cognatic primogeniture In male-preference
primogeniture (in the past called cognatic primogeniture) the monarch's eldest son and his descendants take precedence over his siblings and their descendants. Elder sons take precedence over younger sons, but all sons take precedence over daughters. A female member of a dynasty can succeed to the throne if and only if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. Older daughters and their descendants take precedence over younger daughters and their descendants. Children represent their deceased ancestors, and the senior line of descent always takes precedence over the junior line, within each gender. The right of succession belongs to the eldest son of the reigning sovereign (see
heir apparent), and next to the eldest son of the eldest son. This is the system in
Spain and
Monaco, and was the system used in the ancient kingdoms of
Portugal, of
England and
Scotland and later, the
Kingdom of Great Britain and finally, the
United Kingdom and the
Commonwealth realms (although, during the Middle Ages, Scotland also supported
tanistry and
proximity of blood, both through the male and female lines, due to the intermingling of
Pictish and Gaelic succession rules). With respect to
hereditary titles, it is usually the rule everywhere in Scotland and
baronies by writ in the United Kingdom, but usually these English baronies by writ go into
abeyance when the last male titleholder dies leaving more than one surviving sister or more than one descendant in the legitimate female line of the original titleholder. In England, Fiefs or titles granted "in tail general" or to "heirs general" allow older sons to succeed before younger sons, but daughters are considered equal co-heirs to each other, which can result in abeyance. In the medieval period, actual practice varied with local custom. While women could inherit manors, power was usually exercised by their husbands (
jure uxoris) or their sons (
jure matris). However, in Scotland,
Salic law or any of its variations have never been practised, nor abeyance, and all the hereditary titles are inherited through male-preference primogeniture, where in the extinction of a male line, the eldest sister automatically receives the titles, and rules in her own right, not in the right of her son. A famous example of this is
Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, mother of
Robert the Bruce, who was the Countess of Carrick in her own right. A similar system was practised in many of the kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent from the Middle Ages to the
Indian independence movement. In many of these kingdoms, adoption was allowed from a relative if a monarch did not have children, and the adopted child could succeed to the throne at the death of the monarch. Examples include
Rajaram II of Satara,
Shahu II of Satara and Princess Bharani Thirunal Parvathy Bayi, the mother of the reigning Queen
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi of
Travancore. Often, the wife or mother of a childless king succeeded to the throne and ruled in her own right until her death, after which the throne passed to the next closest relative. Prominent examples of this custom include
Queen Didda of Kashmir, and
Qudsia Begum, the
Nawab of Bhopal.
Razia Sultana of the
Delhi Sultanate was a rare example of a queen who succeeded her father even when her brothers were alive.
Absolute cognatic primogeniture Absolute primogeniture is a law in which the eldest child of the sovereign succeeds to the throne, regardless of gender, and females (and their descendants) enjoy the same right of succession as males. This is currently the system in
Sweden (
since 1980), the
Netherlands (
since 1983),
Norway (
since 1990),
Belgium (
since 1991),
Denmark (
since 2009),
Luxembourg (
since 2011), and in the
United Kingdom and the
Commonwealth realms (
since 2013).
Agnatic succession (Salic law) The
Salic law, or agnatic succession, restricted the pool of potential heirs to males of the patrilineage, and altogether excluded females of the dynasty and their descendants from the succession, unless there were no living males to inherit. The Salic law applied to the former royal or imperial houses of
Albania,
France,
Italy,
Romania,
Yugoslavia, and
Prussia/
German Empire. It currently applies to the house of
Liechtenstein, and the
Chrysanthemum Throne of
Japan. In 1830 in Spain the question whether or not the Salic law applied – and therefore, whether
Ferdinand VII should be followed by his daughter
Isabella or by his brother
Charles – led to a series of
civil wars and the formation of a pretender rival dynasty which still exists. Generally, hereditary monarchies that operate under the Salic law also use
primogeniture among male descendants in the male line to determine the rightful successor, although in earlier history
agnatic seniority was more usual than primogeniture. Fiefs and titles granted "in
tail male" or to "heirs male" follow this primogenitural form of succession. (Those granted to "heirs male of the body" are limited to the male-line descendants of the grantee; those to "heirs male general" may be inherited, after the extinction of the grantee's male-line descendants, by the male-line descendants of his father, paternal grandfather, etc.)
Agnatic-cognatic succession Agnatic-cognatic (or semi-Salic) succession, prevalent in much of Europe since ancient times, is the restriction of succession to those descended from or related to a past or current monarch exclusively through the
male line of descent: descendants through females were ineligible to inherit unless no males of the
patrilineage remained alive. In this form of succession, the succession is reserved first to all the male dynastic descendants of all the eligible branches by order of
primogeniture, then upon total extinction of these male descendants to a female member of the dynasty. The only current monarchy that operated under semi-Salic law until recently is
Luxembourg, which changed to absolute primogeniture in 2011. Former monarchies that operated under semi-Salic law included Austria (later
Austria-Hungary),
Bavaria,
Hanover,
Württemberg,
Russia,
Saxony,
Tuscany, and the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. If a female descendant should take the throne, she will not necessarily be the senior heiress by primogeniture, but usually the nearest relative to the last male monarch of the dynasty by
proximity of blood. Examples are
Christian I of Denmark's succession to Schleswig-Holstein,
Maria Theresa of Austria (although her right ultimately was confirmed in consequence of her victory in the
War of the Austrian Succession launched over her accession),
Marie-Adelaide and
Charlotte of Luxembourg,
Anne of Brittany, as well as
Christian IX of Denmark's succession in the right of his wife,
Louise of Hesse.
Matrilineal succession Some cultures pass honours down through the female line. A man's wealth and title are inherited by his sister's children, and his children receive their inheritance from their maternal uncles. In
Kerala, southern India, a custom known as
Marumakkathayam was practiced by the
Nair nobility, the
Malabar Muslims and the royal families. Through this system, descent and the inheritance of property were passed from the maternal uncle to nephews or nieces. The right of the child was with the maternal uncle or the mother's family rather than the father or the father's family. Through this bloodline, surnames, titles, properties, and everything of the child are inherited from his uncle or mother. Almost all the kingdoms in Kerala practised this system, including the
Kingdom of Calicut,
Kingdom of Cochin, the kingdom of
Kolathunadu and the
Kingdom of Valluvanad, to name a few. The
Arakkal kingdom followed a similar matrilineal system of descent: the eldest member of the family, whether male or female, became its head and ruler; the male rulers were called Ali Rajah and the female rulers were called as Arakkal Beevis. Usually after one king, his nephew through his sister succeeded to the throne, and his own son receives a
courtesy title but has no place in the line of succession. In the absence of nephews, nieces could also succeed to the kingdom, as in the case of Queen
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi who was the queen regnant of
Travancore from 1810 to 1813. Since Indian Independence and the passing of several acts such as the
Hindu Succession Act (1956), this form of inheritance is no longer recognised by law. Regardless, the pretender to the Travancore throne is still determined by matrilinear succession. The
Akans of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, West Africa have similar matrilineal succession and as such
Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II,
Asantehene inherited the
Golden Stool (the throne) through his mother (the
Asantehemaa)
Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II.
Ultimogeniture Ultimogeniture is an order of succession where the subject is succeeded by the youngest son (or youngest child). This serves the circumstances where the youngest is "keeping the hearth", taking care of the parents and continuing at home, whereas elder children have had time to succeed "out in the world" and provide for themselves.
Proximity of blood Proximity of blood is a system wherein the person closest in degree of kinship to the sovereign succeeds, preferring males over females and elder over younger siblings. This is sometimes used as a gloss for "pragmatic" successions in Europe; it had somewhat more standing during the
Middle Ages everywhere in Europe. In
Outremer it was often used to choose regents, and it figured in some of the succession disputes over the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was also recognized in that kingdom for the succession of fiefs, under special circumstances: if a fief was lost to the
Saracens and subsequently re-conquered, it was to be assigned to the heir in proximity of blood of the last fief-holder. In Scotland,
Robert de Brus tried to claim the Scottish crown by order of proximity. He was not successful, but his grandson later successfully claimed the crown as
Robert I of Scotland.
Porphyrogeniture Porphyrogeniture is a system of political succession that favours the rights of sons born after their father has become king or emperor, over older siblings born before their father's ascent to the throne. Examples of this practice include
Byzantium and the
Nupe Kingdom. In late 11th century England and Normandy, the theory of porphyrogeniture was used by
Henry I of England to justify why he, and not his older brother
Robert Curthose, should inherit the throne after the death of their brother
William Rufus.
Partible inheritance In some societies, a monarchy or a fief was inherited in a way that all entitled heirs had a right to a share of it. The most prominent examples of this practice are the multiple divisions of the
Frankish Empire under the
Merovingian and
Carolingian dynasties, and similarly
Gavelkind in the British Isles.
Secundogeniture A secundogeniture was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a
cadet branch. This was a special form of
inheritance in which the second and younger son received more possessions and prestige than the
apanage which was usual in principalities practising
primogeniture. It avoided the generational division of the estate to the extent that occurred under
gavelkind, and at the same time gave younger branches a stake in the stability of the house. In the rare cases in which the beneficiary was the third son in the order of succession, the second being already the holder of a secundogeniture, the domain given as a benefit was called a
tertiogeniture. ==Horizontal inheritance==