An
order of succession is a formula or algorithm
that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation,
or removal of its current occupant.
Monarchies and nobility
In
hereditary monarchies the
order of succession determines who becomes the new
monarch when the incumbent sovereign dies or vacates
the throne. Such orders of succession generally specify a selection
process, by law or tradition, which is applied to indicate which
relative of the previous monarch, or other
person, has the strongest claim to succeed, and will therefore
assume the throne when the vacancy occurs.
Often, the line of succession is restricted to persons of the
blood royal (but see
morganatic marriage), that is, to those
legallly recognized as born into or descended from the
reigning dynasty or a previous
sovereign. The persons in line to succeed to the throne are called
"
dynasts". Constitutions, statutes,
house laws, and norms may regulate the
sequence and eligibility of potential successors to the
throne.
In the past, the order of succession was sometimes superseded or
reinforced by the
coronation of a
selected heir as co-monarch during the life of the reigning
monarch. Examples include
Henry the
Young King and the heirs of
elective monarchies, such as the use of
the title
King of the Romans for
the
Habsburg emperors. In the partially
elective system of
tanistry, the heir or
tanist was elected from the qualified males of the royal
family.Different monarchies use different algorithms or formulas to
determine the line of succession. Chief among the lineal mechanisms
are:
Hereditary monarchies have used a variety of methods and algorithms
to calculate the order of succession among possible candidates
related by blood or marriage. An advantage of employing such
formulae is that dynasts may, from early youth, receive grooming,
education, protection, resources and retainers suitable for the
future dignity and responsibilities associated with the crown of a
particular nation or people. Such systems may also enhance
political stability by establishing clear, public expectations
about the sequence of rulers, potentially reducing competition and
channeling
cadets into other roles or
endeavors.
Some hereditary monarchies have had unique selection processes,
particularly upon the accession of a new dynasty.
Imperial France established male
primogeniture within the descent of
Napoleon I, but failing male issue the
constitution allowed the emperors to choose who among their
brothers or nephews would follow them upon the throne. The
Kingdom of Italy was
designated a
secundogeniture for the second
surviving son of Napoleon I Bonaparte but, failing such, provided
for the emperor's stepson,
Eugène de Beauharnais to succeed,
even though the latter had no
blood
relationship to the
House of
Bonaparte. Serbia's monarchy was hereditary by primogeniture
for male descendants in the male line of
Prince
Alexander I, but upon extinction of that line, the reigning
king could choose any among his male relatives of the
House of Karađorđević.
In Romania, on the other hand, upon extinction of the male line
descended from
Carol I of
Romania, the constitution stipulated that the male-line of his
brother,
Leopold, Prince
of Hohenzollern, would inherit the throne and, failing other
male line issue of that family, a prince of a "Western European"
dynasty was to be chosen by the Romanian king and parliament. By
contrast, older European monarchies tended to rely upon succession
criteria that only called to the throne descendants of past
monarchs according to fixed rules rooted in one or another pattern
of laws or traditions..
Agnatic succession
Agnatic (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 firstly 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.
Current monarchies that operate under
Semi-Salic law include Luxembourg
, 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
include
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), Mary Adelaide and
Charlotte of Luxembourg and
Nassau,
Anne of Brittany and
Grand Duchess Maria of
Russia, as well as
Christian
IX of Denmark's succession using the right of his wife,
Louise of Hesse.
Salic law
The
Salic law, a form of agnatic
succession, restricted the pool of potential heirs to males of the
patrlineage, altogether excluding females of the dynasty and their
descendants from the succession.
The Salic law applied to the former royal
or imperial houses of Albania
, France
, Italy
, Korea
, Romania
, Yugoslavia
, and Prussia/German Empire
. It currently applies to the houses of
Liechtenstein
, Japan
and Jordan
.
In 1830 in Spain the question whether or not the Salic law applied
- and therefore, should
Ferdinand
VII 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 exists up to the present.
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.)
Rota System
The
Rota System, from the Old Church Slavic word
for "ladder" or "staircase", was a system of collateral succession
practiced (though imperfectly) in
Kievan
Rus' and later Appanage and early Muscovite Russia.
In this system the throne passed not linearly from father to son,
but laterally from brother to brother (usually to the fourth
brother) and then to the eldest son of the eldest brother who had
held the throne. The system was begun by
Yaroslav the Wise, who assigned each of
his sons a principality based on seniority. When the Grand Prince
died, the next most senior prince moved to Kiev and all others
moved to the principality next up the ladder.
Appointment, election, tanistry and rotation
Order of succession can be arranged by appointment: either the
incumbent monarch or some
electoral
body appoints an heir or a list of heirs, already before
vacancy occurs. A monarchy may be generally elective, although in a
way that the next holder will be elected only after it becomes
vacant.
In history, quite often, but not always, appointments and elections
favored, or were limited to, members of a certain dynasty or
extended family. There may have been genealogical rules to
determine who all are entitled to succeed, and who will be favored.
This has led sometimes to an order of succession that balances
branches of a dynasty by
rotation.
It
currently applies to the Holy See, Malaysia
, Cambodia
, Kuwait
, the
UAE
, Andorra
, Swaziland
, and Samoa
.
Seniority
In seniority successions, a monarch's or fiefholder's next sibling,
actually it means almost always
brother, succeeds; not his
children. And, if the royal house is more extensive, (male) cousins
and so forth succeed, in order of seniority, which may depend upon
actual age or upon the seniority between their fathers.
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.
Primogeniture
Primogeniture (or more properly
Male Primogeniture) is a mechanism whereby male
descendants of the sovereign take precedence over female
descendants, with children representing their deceased ancestors,
and where the senior line of descent always takes precedence over
the junior line, in each gender. Elder sons take precedence over
younger sons, but younger sons take precedence over older
daughters. The right of succession belongs to the eldest son of the
reigning sovereign (see
heir
apparent), and then to the eldest son of the eldest son.
This is
the system in the Commonwealth
Realms, Spain
, and
Monaco
.
Fiefs or titles granted "in tail general" or to "heirs general"
follow this system for sons, but daughters are considered equal
co-heirs, at least in modern British practice. This can result in
the condition known as
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).
Equal (or absolute) primogeniture
Fully equal primogeniture (or
Absolute Primogeniture) is a
law in which the eldest child of the sovereign succeeds to the
throne, regardless of gender, and where 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)
andDenmark
(from 2009).
The
Succession to the Crown
Bill of 2004 proposed changing the
line of succession to
the British throne to absolute primogeniture.
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.
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.
Lateral succession
Lateral or
fraternal system of
succession mandates principles of seniority among members
of a dynasty or dynastic clan, with a purpose of election a best
qualified candidate for the leadership. The leaders are elected as
being the most mature elders of the clan, already in possession of
military power and competence. Fraternal succession is preferred to
ensure that mature leaders are in charge, removing a need for
regents. The
lateral system of succession may or
may not exclude male descendants in the female line from
succession. In practice, when no male heir is mature enough, a
female heir is usually determined "pragmatically", by proximity to
the last monarch, like Boariks of the Caucasian
Huns or Tamiris of
Massagetes.
The lateral monarch is generally elected after the leadership
throne becomes vacant. In the early years of the Mongol empire, the
death of the ruling monarchs,
Genghis
Khan and
Ögedei Khan,
immediately stopped the Mongol western campaigns because of the
upcoming elections.
The rule of lateral succession applies not only to the supreme
throne, but consequentially to all other leading appontments in the
state. As a younger brother ascends to the supreme throne to
replace his late older brother, in turn his younger brother, or an
eldest nephew who is next in line ascends to his vacated position
of an heir-in-waiting, freeing a higher post for the next in line,
and so on. That orderly line-up of potential successors created a
peculiar social organization of the state, with no ancestral or
hereditary possessions within the dynastic line, but a kind of
extended sequence of temporal "Princes of Wales", each successor in
line assigned an area of responsibility correlated with his
proximity to the supreme throne, and on a smaller scale given the
same rights as those belonging to the supreme throne. The lateral
succession administrative structure is necessarily complemented by
a secondatry tier of a permanent local administrative structure, on
a clan, tribal, and tribal confederation level, with autonomous
local tradition of inheritance, appointment, or election
independent of the state dynastic line, and governed by the
particular local traditions. In practice, with acquisition or
annexation of the new territories and people, the existing local
power structure usually remained intact and undisturbed, and a new
layer of external supervision was added to bring the new subjects
under control by one of the dynastic offices within the dynastic
line of lateral succession.
A drawback of the lateral succession is that while ensuring a most
competent leadership for the moment, the system inherently created
derelict prince lines not eligible for succession. Any scion of an
eligible heir that did not live long enough to ascend to the throne
was cast aside as not eligible, creating a pool of discontented
pretenders called
Tegin in Turkic and
Izgoi in
Rus dynastic lines. The unsettled pool of derelict princes was
eventually bringing havoc to the succession order, and
dismemberment to the state.
See also the
Agnatic
seniority.
Matrilinear succession
In
matrilinear succession (also known as
Marumakathayam), practiced in Kerala
by the
Nair nobility and royal families, a man's
wealth and title is inherited by his sister's children, and his own
children receive their inheritance from their own maternal
uncles. The Maharajah of
Travancore is therefore succeeded by his sister's
son, and his own son receives a
courtesy
title but has no place in the line of succession. 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.
Succession crises
When a monarch dies without a clear successor, a succession crisis
often results. For example, when King
Charles IV of France died, the
Hundred Years War erupted between Charles'
cousin,
Philip VI of France, and
Charles' nephew,
Edward III of
England, to determine who would succeed Charles as the
King of France.
Republics
In politics, a desire to ensure a continuity of operations at all
times has resulted in most offices having some formalized order of
succession. In
republics with
fixed-term elections, the national
president is sometimes succeeded following
death or resignation by the
vice
president, in turn followed by various office holders of the
parliament or
congress, and/or members of the cabinet. For
example, if both the
President of the United
States and
Vice
President of the United States are unable to serve, the
Speaker
of the United States House of Representatives takes over as
President. Next in line is the
President pro
tempore of the United States Senate, who is followed by the
Secretary of State,
and other cabinet officials. In many republics, however, a new
election takes place some period after the demise of the incumbent
president.
See also
Lines of succession in states around the world
Miscellaneous
References
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