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Anorder,line orright of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such ashead of state or an honour such as atitle of nobility.[1] This sequence may be regulated through descent or by statute.[1]
Hereditary government form differs fromelected government. An established order of succession is the normal way of passing on hereditary positions, and also provides immediate continuity after an unexpected vacancy in cases where office-holders are chosen byelection: the office does not have to remain vacant until a successor is elected. In some cases the successor takes up the full role of the previous office-holder, as in the case of thepresidency of many countries; in other non-hereditary cases there is not a full succession, but a caretaker chosen by succession criteria assumes some or all of the responsibilities, but not the formal office, of the position. For example, when the position ofPresident of India becomes vacant, theVice President of India temporarily carries out the functions of the presidency until a successor iselected; in contrast, when the position ofPresident of the Philippines is vacant, theVice President of the Philippines outright assumes the presidency itself for the rest of the term.
Organizations without hereditary or statutory order of succession requiresuccession planning if power struggles prompted bypower vacuums are to be avoided.
Research shows that authoritarian regimes that rely on primogeniture for succession were more stable than forms of authoritarian rule with alternative succession arrangements.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Scholars have linked primogeniture to a decline inregicide, as clear rules of succession reduce the number of people who could (absent acoup d'état) replace a ruler, thus making it less desirable to cause the death of the monarch.[8][9]
It is often the case that theinheritance of a hereditary title, office or the like, is indivisible: when the previous holder ceases to hold the title, it is inherited by a single individual. Many titles and offices are not hereditary (such as democratic state offices) and they are subject to different rules of succession.
A hereditary line of succession may be limited toheirs of the body, or may also pass to collateral lines, if there are no heirs of the body, depending on the succession rules. These concepts are in use in English inheritance law.
The rules may stipulate that eligible heirs areheirs male orheirs general – see furtherprimogeniture (agnatic, cognatic, and also equal).
Certain types ofproperty pass to a descendant or relative of the original holder, recipient orgrantee according to a fixed order ofkinship. Upon the death of the grantee, a designated inheritance such as apeerage, or amonarchy, passes automatically to that living,legitimate, non-adoptive relative of the grantee who is most senior in descent (i.e. highest in the line of succession, regardless of age); and thereafter continues to pass to subsequent successors of the grantee, according to the same rules, upon the death of each subsequent heir.
Each person who inherits according to these rules is considered an heir at law of the grantee and the inheritance may not pass to someone who is not a natural, lawful descendant or relative of the grantee.
Collateral relatives, who share some or all of the grantee's ancestry, but do not directly descend from the grantee, may inherit if there is no limitation to "heirs of the body".
There are other kinds of inheritance rules if the heritage can be divided:heirs portioners andpartible inheritance.
Inhereditary monarchies the order of succession determines who becomes the newmonarch when the incumbent sovereign dies or otherwise vacates the throne. Such orders of succession, derived from rules established by law or tradition, usually specify an order of seniority, which is applied to indicate which relative of the previous monarch, or other person, has the strongest claim to assume the throne when the vacancy occurs.
Often, the line of succession is restricted to persons of theblood royal (but seemorganatic marriage), that is, to those legally recognized as born into or descended from thereigningdynasty 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.
Historically, the order of succession was sometimes superseded or reinforced by thecoronation of a selected heir as co-monarch during the life of the reigning monarch. Examples areHenry the Young King and the heirs ofelective monarchies, such as the use of the titleKing of the Romans for theHabsburg emperors. In the partially elective system oftanistry, the heir ortanist was elected from the qualified males of the royal family. Different monarchies use different rules to determine the line of succession.
Hereditary monarchies have used a variety of methods and algorithms to derive the order of succession among possible candidates related by blood or marriage. An advantage of employing such rules 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 channelingcadets 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 ofNapoleon I, but failing male issue the constitution allowed the emperors to choose who among their brothers or nephews would follow them upon the throne. TheKingdom of Italy was designated asecundogeniture 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 noblood relationship to theHouse of Bonaparte. Serbia's monarchy was hereditary by primogeniture for male descendants in the male line ofPrince Alexander I, but upon extinction of that line, the reigning king could choose any among his male relatives of theHouse of Karađorđević. In Romania, on the other hand, upon extinction of the male line descended fromCarol 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.
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.
In male-preferenceprimogeniture (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. 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 (seeheir apparent), and next to the eldest son of the eldest son.
This is the system inSpain andMonaco, and was the system used in the ancient kingdoms ofPortugal, ofEngland andScotland and later, theKingdom of Great Britain and finally, theUnited Kingdom and theCommonwealth realms (although, during the Middle Ages, Scotland also supportedtanistry andproximity of blood, both through the male and female lines, due to the intermingling ofPictish and Gaelic succession rules).
With respect tohereditary titles, it is usually the rule everywhere in Scotland andbaronies by writ in the United Kingdom, but usually these English baronies by writ go intoabeyance 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" follow this system for 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, 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 isMarjorie, Countess of Carrick, mother ofRobert 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 theIndian 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. (Shahu I adoptedRajaram II who ruled as king and he in turn adoptedShahu II who ruled as the next king. The mother of the reigning QueenGowri Lakshmi Bayi ofTravancore, Princess Bharani Thirunal Parvathy Bayi, had been adopted under the rules of the male-preference primogeniture in the matrilineal system). Often, the wife or mother of a childless king were allowed to succeed to the throne as well and allowed to rule as queen regnants in their own right, until their death, after which the throne passed to the next closest relative. An early example of this isQueen Didda of Kashmir, who ascended the throne of Kashmir in 980 CE after the death of her grandson and ruled until 1003 CE. Another example isQudsia Begum who became theNawab of Bhopal in 1819 CE after the death of her husband and ruled until 1837 CE. Other famous queens includeRudrama Devi,Keladi Chennamma,Ahilyabai Holkar,Velu Nachiyar andGowri Lakshmi Bayi.Razia Sultana was a rare example of a queen who succeeded her father even when her brothers were alive. She was the reigning queen of theDelhi Sultanate from 1236 to 1240 CE.
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 inSweden (since 1980), theNetherlands (since 1983),Norway (since 1990),Belgium (since 1991),Denmark (since 2009),[10]Luxembourg (since 2011),[11] and in theUnited Kingdom and theCommonwealth realms (since 2013).[12][13][14]
TheSalic 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 ofAlbania,France,Italy,Romania,Yugoslavia, andPrussia/German Empire. It currently applies to the house ofLiechtenstein, and theChrysanthemum Throne ofJapan.
In 1830 in Spain the question whether or not the Salic law applied – and therefore, whetherFerdinand VII should be followed by his daughterIsabella or by his brotherCharles – led to a series ofcivil wars and the formation of a pretender rival dynasty which still exists.
Generally, hereditary monarchies that operate under the Salic law also useprimogeniture among male descendants in the male line to determine the rightful successor, although in earlier historyagnatic seniority was more usual than primogeniture. Fiefs and titles granted "intail 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 (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 themale line of descent: descendants through females were ineligible to inherit unless no males of thepatrilineage 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 ofprimogeniture, then upon total extinction of these male descendants to a female member of the dynasty.[15] The only current monarchy that operated under semi-Salic law until recently isLuxembourg, which changed to absolute primogeniture in 2011. Former monarchies that operated under semi-Salic law included Austria (laterAustria-Hungary),Bavaria,Hanover,Württemberg,Russia,Saxony,Tuscany, and theKingdom 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 byproximity of blood. Examples areChristian I of Denmark's succession to Schleswig-Holstein,Maria Theresa of Austria (although her right ultimately was confirmed in consequence of her victory in theWar of the Austrian Succession launched over her accession),Marie-Adelaide andCharlotte of Luxembourg,Anne of Brittany, as well asChristian IX of Denmark's succession in the right of his wife,Louise of Hesse.
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.
InKerala, southern India, a custom known asMarumakkathayam was practiced by theNair nobility, theMalabar 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 theKingdom of Calicut,Kingdom of Cochin, the kingdom ofKolathunadu and theKingdom of Valluvanad, to name a few. TheArakkal 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 acourtesy 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 QueenGowri Lakshmi Bayi who was the queen regnant ofTravancore from 1810 to 1813. Since Indian Independence and the passing of several acts such as theHindu 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.
TheAkans of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, West Africa have similar matrilineal succession and as suchOtumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II,Asantehene inherited theGolden Stool (the throne) through his mother (theAsantehemaa)Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II.
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 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 theMiddle Ages everywhere in Europe. InOutremer it was often used to choose regents, and it figured in some of the succession disputes over theKingdom of Jerusalem. It was also recognized in that kingdom for the succession of fiefs, under special circumstances: if a fief was lost to theSaracens 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 asRobert I of Scotland.
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 includeByzantium and theNupe Kingdom.[16]: 33 In late 11th century England and Normandy, the theory of porphyrogeniture was used byHenry I of England to justify why he, and not his older brotherRobert Curthose, should inherit the throne after the death of their brotherWilliam Rufus.[17]: 105
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 theFrankish Empire under theMerovingian andCarolingian dynasties, and similarlyGavelkind in the British Isles.
A secundogeniture was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating acadet branch.[18] This was a special form ofinheritance in which the second and younger son received more possessions and prestige than theapanage which was usual in principalities practisingprimogeniture. It avoided the generational division of the estate to the extent that occurred undergavelkind, 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 atertiogeniture.
In seniority successions, a monarch's or fiefholder's next sibling (almost alwaysbrother), 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.
Therota system, from the Old Church Slavic word for "ladder" or "staircase", was a system of collateral succession practised (though imperfectly) inKievan 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 and then to the eldest son of the eldest brother who had held the throne. The system was begun byYaroslav 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.[19]
TheTanistry is aGaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system theTanist (Irish:Tánaiste;Scottish Gaelic:Tànaiste;Manx:Tanishtey) is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelicpatrilineal dynasties ofIreland,Scotland andMann, to succeed to thechieftainship or to thekingship.
Historically the tanist was chosen from among the heads of theroydammna or "righdamhna" (literally, those ofkingly material) or, alternatively, among all males of thesept, and elected by them in full assembly. The eligibility was based on descent from a king to a few degrees of proximity. Usually descent from the male lines of a king was the norm, however in Scotland, descent through the female lines of a king was also accepted, possibly because of an intermingling with the Pictish succession rules. An example of this is KingEochaid who claimed the Scottish throne as the son of the daughter ofKenneth I.
The composition and the governance of the clan were built upon descent from a similar ancestor. The office was noted from the beginning of recorded history in Ireland, and probably pre-dates it. A story aboutCormac mac Airt refers to his eldest son as his tanist. Following his murder by a member of theDeisi, anotherroydammna,Eochaid Gonnat, succeeded as king.
The royal succession in Celtic Scotland was limited to the elective succession of the male descendants ofSiol Alpein (House of Alpin) until the accession ofKing Malcolm II in 1005, who introduced the concept of hereditary monarchy in Scotland. He did so to try to eliminate the strife caused by theelective law, which encouraged rival claimants to fight for the throne. The earlierPictish kingdoms had allowed female-line succession to the throne and in middle age Scotland, Pictish and Gaelic succession rules were intermingled. Since Malcolm had only daughters, the throne passed to his grandson through his eldest daughter and later, their descendants. The Irish monarchies, for their part, never at any stage allowed for female line succession.
Order of succession can be arranged by appointment: either the incumbent monarch or someelectoral body appoints an heir or a list of heirs 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 be genealogical rules to determine all who 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, with variations, toAndorra,Cambodia,Eswatini, theHoly See,Kuwait,Malaysia, theUAE, andSamoa. It is also used inIfe,Oyo and the othersubnational states of theYorubaland region.
Lateral orfraternal 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. Thelateral 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 CaucasianHuns or Tamiris ofMassagetes in Middle Asia were selected. 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 andÖgedei Khan, immediately stopped the Mongols' western campaigns because of the upcoming elections.
In East Asia, the lateral succession system is first recorded in the pre-historical period starting with the lateShang dynasty'sWai Bing succeeding his brotherDa Ding, and then in connection with a conquest by the Zhou of the Shang, whenWu Ding was succeeded by his brotherZu Geng in 1189 BC and then by another brotherZu Jia in 1178 BC.[20]
A drawback of the lateral succession is that, while ensuring a most competent leadership for the moment, the system inherently created derelict princely lines not eligible for succession. Any scion of an eligible heir who did not live long enough to ascend to the throne was cast aside as not eligible, creating a pool of discontented pretenders calledTegin in Turkic andIzgoi in Rus dynastic lines. The unsettled pool of derelict princes would eventually bring havoc to the succession order and dismemberment to the state.
When a monarch dies without a clear successor, a succession crisis often ensues, frequently resulting in awar of succession. For example, when KingCharles IV of France died, theHundred Years War erupted between Charles' cousin,Philip VI of France, and Charles' nephew,Edward III of England, to determine who would succeed Charles as theKing of France. When thecrown of Scotland became vacant in September 1290 on the death of the seven-year-oldQueen Margaret, 13 claimants to the throne came forward. Where the line of succession is clear, it has sometimes happened that apretender with a weak or spurious claim but military or political powerusurps the throne.
In recent years researchers have found significant connections between the types of rules governing succession in monarchies and autocracies and the frequency with which coups or succession crises occur.[21]
InTibetan Buddhism, it is believed that the holders of some high offices such as theDalai Lama arereincarnations of the incumbent: the order of succession is simply that an incumbent is followed by a reincarnation of himself. When an incumbent dies, his successor is sought in the general population by certain criteria considered to indicate that thereincarnated Dalai Lama has been found, a process which typically takes two to four years to find the infant boy.
In theCatholic Church, there are prescribed procedures to be followed in the case ofvacancy of the papacy or a bishopric.
| Part ofa series on Orders of succession |
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Inrepublics, the requirement to ensurecontinuity of government at all times has resulted in most offices having some formalized order of succession. In a country withfixed-term elections, thehead of state (president) is often succeeded following death, resignation, or impeachment by thevice president,parliament speaker,chancellor, orprime minister, in turn followed by various office holders of thelegislative assembly or othergovernment ministers. In many republics, a new election takes place some time after the "presidency" becomes unexpectedly vacant.
In states or provinces within a country, frequently a lieutenant governor or deputy governor is elected to fill a vacancy in the office of the governor.
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