Patrilineality - Salic Law

Salic Law

In parts of medieval and later Europe, the Salic Law was purported to be the grounds for males alone being eligible to inherit land, with particular emphasis applied to hereditary succession of monarchies and fiefs, i.e. in patrilineal or agnatic succession. The true scope and sway of the Salic Law was never defined rigidly, the original 6th century text being both ambiguously worded and originating in a kingdom long extinct. Although observance of, or disregard for, the Law was primarily a matter of political expediency rather than legal principle, it was broadly understood to prevail in domains that were originally Frankish or at some time accepted Salian Frankish juridical principles. The last practical effect of the Salic Law at the international level was the separation of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1890, almost fourteen centuries after the Law was codified. Strict Salic inheritance has been officially revoked in all extant European monarchies except for the Principality of Liechtenstein; however it is still recognized in the House laws of many non-sovereign noble families.