|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.We were also inflamed by the ardent desire thatGod grant us progeny of the better sex, we who had been terrified by amultitude of daughters. 3 On a theoretical level, only some time in the1320s did a commentary on Augustine s City of God by François de Mey-ronnes first suggest in writing that although private inheritances coulddevolve to women, this was not true of the kingdom, given its nature asa dignitas, a sort of religious corporation to which women were unfit tosucceed.As the religious mystique of French kingship continued to grow, thegrounds for the female exclusionary principle grew as well.Two prece-dents would be set in the next dozen years to fill the legislative voids un-covered in 1316 and 1328 regarding women: first, an outright declarationthat females could not inherit the throne of France, and second, a re-lated decision that women could not transfer the right to rule, which theylacked, to male offspring.Both measures were established with little for-mal justification other than the might of the promoters, or peers.So far(despite the misconception of many modern historians), an ancient pri-vate Frankish law code, called the Salic Law, from which later lawyerswould seek to provide a juridical basis for excluding women from thecrown, had not been invoked.When the eldest son of Philip the Fair, Louis X, died in 1316 leavingonly a daughter and a pregnant wife, the birth of a son still could haveaverted a royal emergency.But when a son was born and died in a mat-ter of days, a crisis was thrust upon the ruling elite.The events that fol-lowed show from what fragile beginnings the firm monarchical principleof male succession arose.Louis daughter, Jeanne, whom an earlier in-heritance contract seemed to designate as heir in such a case, saw heruncle, Philip of Poitiers, quickly ease himself into the kingship as PhilipV of France.The barons, called together by Philip, peremptorily declaredthat women did not succeed to the crown of the kingdom of France.Butthe decision was less than self-evident.Philip s vulnerability to the chargeof usurper can be seen in the circumstances of the coronation itself.Theceremony was conducted in January 1317 behind locked gates, witharmed men surrounding the city.Eudes IV of Burgundy and his mother,Agnes, the uncle and grandmother of the dispossessed orphan daughter,contradicted the right of the barons to overrule a direct heir.Agnes ap-pealed for a full debate of the peers, or débat contradictoire.Their efforts Background Causes of the Hundred Years War 7were of no avail.The peers decreed that succession had to progress lat-erally, traveling from brother to brother (collateral succession) ratherthan from father to daughter (direct succession).In search of better en-dorsement, Philip convoked a second assembly in February, which issueda nonsensical defense of his legitimacy based on the number of interme-diaries between him and Saint Louis.Behind the scenes, Philip was tak-ing decisive action to soften the opposition of Eudes of Burgundy (andconsequently the young Jeanne s claim) by marrying his own daughter tohim.By March 1318 Eudes had all but relinquished his niece s rights inorder to become a royal son-in-law.The king s own daughter, as one his-torian put it, had served to dispossess his niece.Philip V s ultimately se-cure kingship set the precedent for a collateral heir to replace a directheir in the event of the deceased monarch leaving only female descen-dants.Within five years, the principle of female exclusion was again invoked.In 1322, Philip V died without a male heir, survived only by daughters.He seems to have pacified a discontented younger brother, Charles of theMarch, with the prospect of the crown, perhaps arranging for the trans-fer of power to Charles upon his death, again through collateral succes-sion, in a move that would invalidate the claims of his own daughters.Thus, in 1322, the third and last son of Philip the Fair mounted thethrone as King Charles IV to no audible dissent, thrusting aside hisbrother s daughters, presumably with their father s consent.SUCCESSION TRANSFERRED THROUGH WOMENBy 1328 the exclusion of females from the royal succession was estab-lished in custom, though the principle was hardly the ancient custom theValois would claim.There was, however, a further principle to be estab-lished [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |
Archiwum
|