Royal Intermarriage - Royal Marriage As International Policy

Royal Marriage As International Policy

Whereas the nobility in national monarchies often came to set great store by genealogical quarterings (a higher standard of noble ancestry, as measured by descent from four noble grandparents, eight noble great-grandparents, etc., rather than only in the male line), that standard proved less influential among reigning dynasties. Many European orders of chivalry (for men) and of canonesses (for women) imposed strict membership requirements for genealogical nobility extending back sometimes to all 64 of one's great-great-great grandparents or 300 years in a patriline. No such restrictions could apply to inter-marriage with reigning dynasties because the demand for political/military alliances and the prospect of inheritance of a foreign realm through marriage to its heiress forbade rigid adherence to standards of genealogical purity among Europe's ruling families: The Medici, Farnesi, Romanovs and Bonapartes were sought as marital partners by even Europe's oldest dynasties for these reasons.

Royal intermarriage was practised widely as a means of promoting mutually advantageous relations with neighboring or hostile nations by binding their reigning dynasties in blood kinship. As dynasties also approached absolutism and/or sought to preserve loyalty among competing members of the nobility, most eventually distanced themselves from kinship ties to local nobles by marrying abroad. In time, this practice contributed to the notion that it was socially as well as politically disadvantageous for members of ruling families to intermarry with their subjects. Queens consort selected from noble or common castes were sometimes subjected to scorn from their husbands' courtiers (e.g. Elizabeth Woodville, Karin Mansdotter and Anna Canalis di Cumiana).