Salic Law

How easy was it for a country in thr Holy Roman Empire to remove the tenents of Salic Law?

Did the HRE or Imperial Court have to be consulted?

it seems alot of german princes, absent male heirs, would prefer to keep the lands in the hands of there female heirs than some distant male cousin.

Why did Salic Law last so long?
 
How easy was it for a country in thr Holy Roman Empire to remove the tenents of Salic Law?

Did the HRE or Imperial Court have to be consulted?

it seems alot of german princes, absent male heirs, would prefer to keep the lands in the hands of there female heirs than some distant male cousin.

Why did Salic Law last so long?

Interesting question. As for the answer I'm not entirely sure. For example, the Emperors Leopold I, Josef I and Karl VI created the Pragmatic succession to allow women to inherit the Habsburg lands (famously changed by Karl VI to favor his daughters rather than his nieces) and didn't need the approval of the Diet or either of the Courts. However, since the various lands of the Empire were technically fiefs of the Emperor, I think other states, like say Bavaria or Saxony, would need the approval of the Emperor or the Diet to legally change their succession. Like how Mary of Burgundy could inherit most of the Burgundian fiefs and lands but not the Duchy itself. Only the Duchy was under Salic law.

But the reason Salic law lasted so long is because it kept the lands in the family, rather than passing to an in-law. Changing the law would be going against centuries of tradition and would no doubt trigger a succession war. Look at the Austrian succession war, the Carlist wars and the Hundred years' war. All were triggered by an argument over the application of either Salic law or a version of Salic law. Also, for the most part, the law worked well. Occasionally you had an heiress be used as a cypher, transferring rule to her husband instead of ruling herself. Look at Modena and the Habsburgs in the 1760s.
 
Wasn't Salic Law only applicable in "Germany"? I don't recall it being applied to Arles or Italy. And certainly not Bohemia.
I think it was used to limit filial partition.
 
Wasn't Salic Law only applicable in "Germany"? I don't recall it being applied to Arles or Italy. And certainly not Bohemia.
I think it was used to limit filial partition.


Salic Law applied in many places, including France, but best known in the Holy Roman Empire (Germany). Bohemia, though, was in the Empire.

Note that Spain and Portugal frequently had female Monarchs.
 
Salic Law applied in many places, including France, but best known in the Holy Roman Empire (Germany). Bohemia, though, was in the Empire.

Note that Spain and Portugal frequently had female Monarchs.

I assume you know that HRE =/= Germany. It covered the Kingdoms of Arles (aka Burgundy), Italy (that is, the north), Bohemia, with the remains often called Germany.

See here for a description as good as any as what Salic Law is.
I assume you are referring to the Agnatic Primogenture succession part of the law which FWIW did not apply to Bohemia who had an elected succession.
 
Actually, according to the book Philip the Bold by Richard Vaughan, when John II of France granted the duchy of Burgundy to Philip in 1363, he did so without the condition that the fief should return to the crown in the absence of male heirs. Charles V of France later confirmed and published this agreement in a series of letters. So legally, Mary of Burgundy did have the right to succeed her father as Duchess of Burgundy. Emperor Charles VI did obtain the acceptance of the Pragmatic Sanction from the estates of his numerous realms. Of course, in both cases, war ultimately settled what Mary and her descendant Maria Theresa kept from their inheritances.
 
@ Alpha Trion: so basically the Valois house of Burgundy, where confirmed to have the same privileges as the Capetian house of Burgundy?

Well primogeniture succession wasn't that common in the HRE either, some did eventually manage to institute it though.
Agnatic succession OTOH was quite common, but did not apply everywhere.

The Austrian Habsburg example actually is a case of semi-salic succession. A succession, which for instance also applied in the Low Countries (both the Imperial and French part).
 
@ Janprimus: I am not aware of the privileges the Capetian dukes of Burgundy had. The book by Vaughn did not name those privileges nor was I able to find another source of information. However, I do not know of another instance where a king of France allowed a fief to be heritable by both male and female heirs.
 
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