Salic Law
-
One of the most fascinating (and bloody) periods of English history is The Anarchy, when Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I (he who might well be found sometime soon in the ruins of Reading Abbey) fought her cousin Stephen of Blois (thought to be in Faversham Abbey) for the English throne. Battles raged across the…
-
It can be said that every country that has ever had a monarch still has a hypothetical monarch, to whom the same selection rules apply, unless the whole family in question has been extirpated. The latter is almost impossible to achieve, as the cases of Russia and Ethiopia prove. There are probably collateral descendants of…
-
We bring you an excellent article by Susan Abernethy about the Regent of France through most of Richard’s reign. Note the different constitutional arrangements to Richard’s appointment as Lord Protector and Defender of the Realm but France adhered to a Salic Law meaning that neither Anne nor her descendants could ever reign: Anne de Beaujeu,…
-
A Salic Law (dating from c.507-11) stated, among other things, that a kingdom must be inherited agnatically. Women are to be excluded from the Crown, as are men who would only inherit through the male line. How did this affect different European countries? FRANCE: applied more rigidly as time went on, precedents being created in…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 