Posted by Damian Link: The Salic Law
on 28/8/2009, 17:44:31, in reply to "Re: On This Day"
195.93.21.99
--Previous Message--
: Surely the true heiress was Jeanne II of
: Navarre, eldest daughter of Louis X of
: France & Navarre.
:
: But for the Salic law, yes. Indeed, I've
: often wondered how the English king tried to
: lay claim to a dynasty he descended from
: through his mother ...
:
: Perhaps he had no concept of the French
: succession law ...
The fact is that references to the so-called Salic Law did not exist at the time.Expedience was the sole reason why Jeanne had originally been excluded in 1316.The French nobility preferred their next ruler to be an adult male rather than a 5 year old girl with disputed paternity.This set a precedent whereby the three daughters of Philippe V were also excluded after his death and the posthumous daughter of Charles IV likewise set aside.What was not at all clear was whether or not excluded princesses could transmit the succession to their adult male heirs. This scenario did not arise until 1328 when such an adult male heir presented himself in the shape of Edward III.The French nobility simply decided to ignore his claims because he was a foreigner and voted to allow Philippe of Valois,the nearest adult French male relative,to assume the throne.
The revival of Edward's claim to the French throne in 1337 was a device to force Philippe VI to desist from making military threats to Edward's French lands.Although Edward had been forced to come to Paris to pay homage for these lands in 1331,he later argued that he had been forced to do so under duress because of the weakness of his position at that time (he had only recently seized back power from his mother and her paramour).By 1337 Edward felt strong enough to counter the French king's continual threats with a revival of his claim to Philippe's throne.This was the justification he used for his invasion of France.After the Battle of Crécy,Edward revealed his true intentions by offering to barter away his claim in return for being granted full sovereignty of his French lands which he now intended to include the restoration of Normandy and Anjou.By the time of the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360,Edward's demands had been met fully.But when a revived Valois monarchy in the person of Charles V later reneged on this agreement,Edward promptly reasserted his claim.His successors all formally continued to do so until 1801.
It was not until around 1410 (almost a century after Princess Jeanne's exclusion),that French lawyers began to retro-actively justify the exclusion of females and their descendants from the French throne in terms of a Salic Law.
Until then,no-one had ever heard of such a law,least of all Edward III.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread