Editing Morganatic marriage (section)

==German background==
After [[World War I]], the heads of both ruling and formerly reigning German dynasties initially continued the practice of rejecting dynastic titles and/or rights for descendants of "morganatic" unions, but gradually allowed them, sometimes retroactively, effectively de-morganatizing the wives and children. This was accommodated by [[Justus Perthes (publishing company)|Perthes']] ''[[Almanach de Gotha]]'' (which categorised German princely families by rank until it ceased publication after 1944) by inserting the offspring of such marriages in a third section of the almanac under entries denoted by a symbol (a dot within a circle) that "signifies some princely houses which, possessing no specific princely [[letters patent|patent]], have passed from the first part, A, or from the second part into the third part in virtue of special agreements".<ref name = "gotha">''[[Almanach de Gotha]]'' (Gotha: [[Justus Perthes]], 1944), pages 43, 363–364, 529. French</ref> The ''[[Fürst]]liche Häuser'' ("Princely Houses") series of the ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' ("Genealogical Manual of the Nobility") has followed this lead, likewise enrolling some issue of unapproved marriages in its third section, "III B", with a similar explanation: "Families in this section, although verified, received no specific [[letters patent|decree]], but have been included by special agreement in the 1st and 2nd sections".<ref name="ghda">''«Die in dieser Abteilung nachgewiesenen Familien besitzen kein besonderes Diplom, sondern sind nach besonderer Übereinkunft aus der 1. und 2. <!--Do not remove the dots. "1st" and "2nd" in German = "1." and "2." (with dot). Thank you. --> Abteilung übernommen worden.»'' Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIV. C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, p. 565. {{ISBN|3-7980-0700-4}}.</ref>

Variations of morganatic marriage were also practised by non-European dynasties, such as the [[Royal Family of Thailand]], the polygamous [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] as to their non-principal wives, and other families of Africa and Asia.