A question on adoption in royal successions
- Thread starter Yorel
- Start date
archaeogeek
Banned
Not everywhere but yes in some monarchies: Sweden did it, Britain could do it. France couldn't have without an epic succession crisis the sorts of which otherwise only happen in China and maybe Russia. Spain, Russia and Austria changed their succession rules in the 18th and 19th centuries and I suspect Denmark would have considered it had the only possible heir to the throne in 1860 been the king of Sweden or the prince of Augestenborg.
Depends. In some Islamic dynasties it happened quite often. It varies from nation to nation and culture to culture.
As others pointed out - a matter of law (and, in the real world, power politics). Most medieval and modern European monarchies would not have allowed it through much of their history, but in other parts of the world (and at other points in time in Europe) it was possible and even quite well known. A number of Roman emperors rose to the purple this way. As to today, I don't think it's provided for in most laws, but at least the Scandinavian monarchies would sort of be traditionally obligated to, given their rather meticulous attention to individual freedom.
Thanks for you responses. I'd like to ask another question linked to the first one.
Regarding succession, how is an adoptive son seen compared to:
-A Bastard son (he has the blood of the king even if he is not legitimate)
-A nephew/cousin of the king (they have royal blood while the adoptive son technically doesn't)
Regarding succession, how is an adoptive son seen compared to:
-A Bastard son (he has the blood of the king even if he is not legitimate)
-A nephew/cousin of the king (they have royal blood while the adoptive son technically doesn't)
archaeogeek
Banned
- Depends a lot on country, some countries had no problem with bastards succeeding
- Better claim if heredity is king
Also some countries have succession favouring brothers before lineal descent, so if the sovereign dies, siblings of the sovereign have a better claim than children.
Alex Richards
Donor
Depends a lot on the personality of the candidates. It's been specuated that Henry VIII was preparing for his bastard son the Duke of Richmond to be added to the sucession (quite probably before Mary) in order to have a male heir when he died. It was probably one of the factors contributing to the divorce from Catherine of Aragon.
Certainly if it's a choice between a weak/mad nephew, a foriegn prince or a militarily strong bastard, the bastard has a good chance.