Chapter 26 - Derek Whaley
From a Salic Law to the Salic Law:
The Creation and Re-Creation of the Royal Succession System of Medieval France
Succession and the fluid transition of power from one monarch to the next are key aspects of monarchical government. Within late medieval France, well-documented circumstances have allowed modern historians to observe the creation of such a system first-hand. Prior to 1316, the Capetian dynasty had no formalized succession system, relying instead on each French king to produce a surviving son. When this mode of transmission failed in 1316, the French nobility adopted an informal rule: women could not inherit the French throne. But after two similar successions, the rule became a precedent. Thus, jurists began crafting a new law, basing it on a clause in a Salian Frankish legal code that Clovis I had promulgated nine centuries earlier. Within decades, this ‘Salic Law’ evolved into one of the most widely-utilized forms of succession in Europe. Although many historians have analysed the creation of law, none has analysed its evolution from its sixth-century origins to the fifteenth century, nor has any discussed the transmission of that law into the French periphery throughout the Early Modern era. This study observes the techniques used to create a succession system within medieval France and explains why this specific law spread so rapidly across Europe.
By Derek Whaley
Derek Whaley
Derek R. Whaley received his PhD in history from the University of Canterbury in 2018. His research focuses on medieval and early modern European dynasties and how they are presented within royal chronicles. He also maintains an interest in the local railroading history of Santa Cruz County, California.
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Keywords
Pharamond, king of the Franks; Shakespeare, William; Pactus Legis Salicœ; Salian Franks; Clovis I, king of the Franks; Chlothar I, king of the Franks; Dagobert I, king of the Franks; Les Ripuaria; Charlemagne; Lex Salica Emendata; alodial holdings (alodes); pariage; Carloman, king of the Franks; Pepin, king of Italy; Louis the Pious; Louis II, king of the West Franks; Charles the Fat; Arnulf of Carinthia; Odo, king of the West Franks; Charles the Simple; Robert I, king of the West Franks; Rudolf, king of the West Franks; Lothaire, king of the West Franks; Louis V, king of the West Franks; Charles, duke of Lorraine; Hugues Capet, king of the West Franks; Louis VII, king of the West Franks; Philippe Auguste; Louis X, king of France; Jeanne II, queen of Navarre; Philippe V, king of France; Charles IV, king of France; Philippe VI de Valois, king of France; Edward III, king of England; Isabella of France; Charles II, king of Navarre; Poitiers, battle of; Charles V, king of France; Saint-Denis, abbey of; Lescot, Richard; Charles VI, king of France; Armagnacs; Burgundians; Henry V, king of England; Troyes, treaty of; Charles VII, king of France; Montreuil, Jean de; Juvénal de Ursins, Jean, archbishop of Reims; Cousinot; Guillaume; Terre Rouge, Jean de; Fribois, Noël de; Charles VIII, king of France; Louis XII, king of France; Francois I, king of France; Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor; Henri IV, king of France; Charles de Bourbon, cardinal; Henri III, king of France; Holinshed, Raphael; Louis XVI, king of France; Louis XVII, pretender to France; Louis XVIII, king of France; Charles X, king of France; Revolutions of 1830; Louis-Philippe, king of the French; Utrecht, peace of; War of the Spanish Succession; Louis XIV, king of France; Fernando VII, king of Spain; Isabel II, queen of Spain; Carlos de Molino, Carlist pretender; Carlist Wars; Spanish Second Republic; Alfonso XIII, king of Spain; Felipe V, king of Spain; Carlos III, king of Spain; Ferdinando I, king of the Two Sicilies; Filippo, duke of Parma; Bonaparte, Napoléon I; Bonaparte, Napoléon III; Belgium; Luxembourg; Liechtenstein
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