Primogeniture

Primogeniture (from Latin primus "first", and genitus "born": first-born order of succession) is the technical term for the order of succession according to which only the first-born child inherits and is the legal successor of a deceased person, while his or her younger siblings are disregarded. The heir and legal successor of the first-born child is again his or her first-born child. Only if a deceased person leaves no descendants at his or her death may the eldest surviving brother or sister of the deceased person succeed to his or her rights.

In ancient noble law, primogeniture applied above all in royal houses to determine the succession to the throne and in ruling princely houses to determine the succession to the regency. As a rule, only eldest sons could succeed to the throne; daughters were either excluded altogether (according to the old Frankish law Lex Salica) or were placed behind their brothers. The main reason for this was that after a daughter's marriage her children would be counted as part of her husband's family, would bear his surname, and would continue his lineage, but not the lineage of her mother and her father. If there was no male descendant, family laws regulated the succession and legal succession, for example in the form of a majorate or a minorate, in rare cases also by a hereditary daughter or hereditary daughter's right. A primogeniture title (first-born title) could only be inherited by the first-born as an official part of the name.

Ultimogeniture ("last-born right"), on the other hand, refers to an order of succession in which the youngest child inherits the family property. This order of succession was and is found as ultimagenitur ("last-born") among some of the approximately 160 ethnic groups and indigenous peoples who organize themselves matrilineally according to their matrilineal lines: Here, the youngest daughter inherits the deceased mother's social position and property, which most often includes control over family landholdings; sons are left out because they cannot continue the line, as their children are attributed to their mother and her line. In rural Moldova, the youngest son often inherits the family residence, while the eldest son officially succeeds his father; this arrangement used to be common in Mongolia as well, where the youngest was considered the keeper of his family's "sacred hearth fire."

Primogeniture

Functions

Primogeniture ensured the undivided continuity of an inheritance, i.e. in the case of a ruler the continuation of uniform rule over the existing territory. The more in the early modern period dominions became a state functionally and according to the self-image of the rulers, the more desirable this goal became. Primogeniture, however, also prevented agricultural property from becoming increasingly fragmented. This goal was also pursued in part through political intervention, for example through the Reichserbhofgesetz of 1933.

The primogeniture often left the siblings of the heir without provision from the inheritance; brothers had to be paid off in part, which could lead to indebtedness of the main heir. This was partly remedied by allocating income-securing church offices (benefices) to the younger brothers. After the Reformation, the Protestant lands lost this remedy, but often allowed them military careers in mercenary armies. Thus, Prussian army strength reached three to five times that of France around 1760, based on total population, and Hesse even sold its mercenaries to the English forces in the American War of Independence.

By taking on church offices, the younger brothers were no longer able to bear legitimate children entitled to inherit. Thus, if the first-born "failed" to reproduce, the family line was in danger of dying out. In order to ensure the continuation of the family, they often deviated from their own house laws, which only provided for primogeniture.

History

The primacy of the firstborn is already mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, for example in the rivalry between Esau and Jacob for the blessing of their father Isaac. In the Moses story, the last (and most severe) biblical plague deprives the Egyptians of their firstborn. However, there are many examples in the Bible of younger sons being favored, so the biblical norm was probably applied flexibly.

In the Germanic legal sphere, and especially in medieval Germany, the principle prevailed only gradually. Among the Carolingians and the Ascanians, rule was divided among the living sons. Henry I of Bavaria justified his repeated revolts against the rule of his brother Otto the Great precisely on the grounds that Otto was the primogenitus (first-born) of his father, but still of the mere duke, while he himself was his porphyrogenitus (purple-born), that is, his child in the higher royal office.

The Capetians consistently enforced primogeniture in France, which encouraged the gathering of territory and the creation of the later French nation-state.

The Golden Bull of 1356 decreed primogeniture for the secular electorates of the Holy Roman Empire and thus gave it greater significance. However, it only applied to the electoral lands; other lands over which an elector ruled could certainly be divided by inheritance, as occurred repeatedly in the history of Saxony and the Electoral Palatinate, for example; the principle of inheritance thus only applied specifically and not generally.

The primogeniture statute of 1375 of the lordship and later county of Hanau is one of the oldest provisions prescribing this principle below the level of the electors. Mecklenburg only introduced binding primogeniture through the Hamburg Settlement of 1701.

Present

In hereditary monarchies, patrilineal or agnatic primogeniture (daughters excluded from succession) and cognatic primogeniture (sons preferred) were the most common. Many of the surviving hereditary monarchies in Europe have now abolished the preference for the male sex in succession. For example, in Sweden since 1980 and in Belgium since 1991, the eldest child becomes heir to the throne regardless of gender.

Following a decision by the Commonwealth states in October 2011 (Perth Agreement), the approximately 300-year-old regulation of the British succession to the throne has also been changed to the effect that the order of succession is now only based on the order of birth within the siblings and is independent of their gender; female descendants are therefore no longer ranked behind male descendants born later. The reform was passed in the House of Commons in April 2013; the decision has been in force since 26 March 2015, after being ratified by all Commonwealth countries. The equal succession of female descendants to the throne only applies to those born after 28 October 2011 and therefore does not result in Princess Anne and her descendants moving up in the line of succession.

In contrast, the principalities of Liechtenstein and Monaco adhere to the patrilineal form of primogeniture.

Rules of descent in European monarchies Absolute primogeniture cognatic primogeniture with male preference, change to absolute primogeniture cognatic primogeniture with male preference patrilineal, agnatic primogeniture Elective monarchy

See also

• Secondogeniture (collateral line founded by the second-born)
• Tertiogeniture (compensation for third-born)
• Right of inheritance (special succession to the court)
• Real division (equal division among heirs)
• Seniority principle (Eastern European inheritance regulation for a limited period of time)
• Paragium (compensation "with country and people")