Editing Primogeniture (section)

===Salic law===
{{Main|Salic law}}
Also known as [[agnatic]] primogeniture, is a system that excludes any female from inheritance of a monarch's principal possessions. Generally known in western Europe as an application of the "[[Salic law]]". This rule developed among successions in France in the later Middle Ages. In 1316, [[Joan II of Navarre|Joan]], the only surviving child of [[Louis X of France]], was debarred from the throne in favor of her uncle, [[Philip V of France|Philip, Count of Poitiers]]. After this it was declared that women could not inherit the French throne. Then in 1328, after the death of [[Charles IV of France|Charles IV]], his paternal cousin, [[Philip VI of France|Philip, Count of Valois]], became king, notwithstanding the claims of [[Edward III of England]]. By [[proximity of blood]], Edward was closest related as eldest son of the sister of Charles, [[Isabella of France|Isabella]]. The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris resolved that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded. This ruling became a key point of contention in the subsequent [[Hundred Years War]]. Over the following century, French jurists adopted a clause from the 6th century ''[[Salic law|Pactus Legis Salicae]]'', which asserted that no female or her descendants could inherit the throne, as a governing rule for the French succession. Although Salic law excludes female lines, it also mandates [[partible inheritance]], rather than primogeniture. This rule developed among successions in France in the later Middle Ages. 

In the lands of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s conquests, Salic law was adopted, including the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] and the [[Kingdom of Holland]]. Other states adopted Salic primogeniture as well, including Belgium, Sweden, Denmark ([[Frederick VII of Denmark#Succession crisis|in 1853]]) and all of the eastern European monarchies except Greece, i.e. [[Albanian Kingdom (1928–39)|Albania]], [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Principality of Montenegro|Montenegro]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]]. During this era, Spain (in the [[Carlist Wars|Carlist conflicts]]) fought a [[civil war]] which pitted the Salic and female-line heirs of the ruling dynasty against one another for possession of the crown.

====British titles of nobility====

Many English nobility descend by Salic, male primogeniture have a greater average rate of extinction. For many other titles, if the male line ceases to exist, the title automatically passes to the closest elder sister and her descendants. It could sometimes also pass through a line of descendants to the last holder, as abeyant holders, until they become parents or ancestors to a male descendant who is first born to 'settle the abeyance'. Some senior agnatic [[cadet (genealogy)|cadets]] are granted from the outset [[courtesy titles|courtesy]] or [[subsidiary title|subsidiary]] titles. Notable English exceptions are the [[Duchy of Lancaster]], which is merged with the [[British Crown]] which has included women in inheritance since the 16th century, and the [[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Dukedom of Marlborough]], which has done so since its establishment in 1702. 

However, in Scotland, Salic law has never been practised, and all the [[hereditary title]]s are inherited through male-preference primogeniture, where in the extinction of a male line, the eldest sister automatically receives the titles, and rules in her own right, not in the right of her son. A famous example of this is [[Marjorie, Countess of Carrick]], mother of [[Robert the Bruce]], who was the Countess of Carrick in her own right.