Ultimogeniture
Encyclopedia
Ultimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance
by the last-born of the entirety of, or a privileged position in, a parent
's wealth
, estate
or office. The tradition has been far rarer historically than primogeniture
, inheritance by the first-born.
Ultimogeniture serves the circumstances where the youngest is "keeping the hearth", taking care of the parents and continuing at home, whereas elder children have had time to succeed "out in the world" and provide for themselves - or having received some of their share earlier, for example when marrying and founding an own family. Remembering the historically usual low age at death, the system has proved relatively impractical for impartible inheritance during more recent centuries. Ultimogeniture has been more suitable to officeholders and owners who have themselves been adults already for several decades (such as monarchs who happen to be elderly) and are leaving children who are more or less all mature adults.
In medieval England
, the principle of patrilineal ultimogeniture (i.e. inheritance by the youngest surviving male child) was known as Borough-English. In 1327, a court case found it to be the tradition in the borough
of Nottingham
, whereas in areas influenced by Anglo-Norman
culture, primogeniture was prevalent. The tradition was also found across many rural areas of England where lands were held in tenure by socage
. It also occurred in copyhold
manors in Surrey
, Middlesex
, Suffolk
and Sussex
.
In medieval Scandinavia, where partible inheritance
was the norm, there are indications that within that partibility tradition, youngest son had a privilege to receive the parent's house, or ancestral seat, or family manor. This may simply be a reflection of a practicality that elder brothers, when marrying, had often already acquired or built their own houses, and were not in need of another, whereas the youngest much more rarely had done so, either living with his own family at the ancestral house to care for parents, or having not yet grown old enough to marry.
The tradition of youngest having the privilege of receiving the ancestral seat was so strong that in some wealthy noble families with more manors than needed for each heir to have a place, the privilege of ultimogeniture was still practised. The privilege may have held some possibility to get a practically larger share than elder siblings, for example to compensate for grants the parents already routinely had made when providing benefits to young families of elder siblings. There are also indications that the ancestral seat could have passed to a daughter and her family, with sons receiving other properties. This may have been the consequence of another tradition, that daughters received family properties from those held by mother
, and that sons received their inheritance from their father's familial holdings.
In the German Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg
, land-holdings traditionally passed to the youngest son, who might then employ his older brothers as farm workers.
In Kyūshū
and some other areas of Japan
, property was traditionally apportioned by a modified version of ultimogeniture known as masshi souzoku (末子相続). An estate was distributed equally among all sons, except that the youngest son received a double share as a reward for caring for the elderly parents in their last years. This tradition was prohibited by the Meiji
legal code in the late nineteenth century.
Ultimogeniture seems also to have been practised in the Ancient Near East
. In early Greek myths, kingship was conferred by marriage to a tribal nymph
, who was selected by ultimogeniture or success in a race. Some scholars have noted that many Biblical characters are described as youngest sons or daughters and have inferred a prehistoric ultimogeniture tradition in the Holy Land, such as Isaac, Jacob, Ephraim, Moses, David, and Solomon.
Ultimogeniture of the ancestral seat was also traditional in Mongolia
, where Genghis Khan
passed the heart of the Mongol Empire
to his fourth son, Tolui
as the empire with its conquests was to be partitioned, and in areas of Myanmar
and China
, where it is traditional among by the Rawang
and T'ring people for older sons to move away on reaching maturity and for only the youngest son to remain and inherit.
Like other forms of hereditary succession, ultimogeniture was laden with problems. Elder siblings deprived of property could potentially use their experience to coerce younger siblings into relinquishing some or all of their inheritance. In addition, fratricide
, among other means, was often employed to eliminate potential challenges from younger siblings and their political supporters, as in the case of Alexander the Great's succession to the Macedonian throne.
There are several other ways to organize hereditary succession. Some examples of widely used methods of succession:
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
by the last-born of the entirety of, or a privileged position in, a parent
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
's wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
, estate
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
or office. The tradition has been far rarer historically than primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
, inheritance by the first-born.
Ultimogeniture serves the circumstances where the youngest is "keeping the hearth", taking care of the parents and continuing at home, whereas elder children have had time to succeed "out in the world" and provide for themselves - or having received some of their share earlier, for example when marrying and founding an own family. Remembering the historically usual low age at death, the system has proved relatively impractical for impartible inheritance during more recent centuries. Ultimogeniture has been more suitable to officeholders and owners who have themselves been adults already for several decades (such as monarchs who happen to be elderly) and are leaving children who are more or less all mature adults.
In medieval England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the principle of patrilineal ultimogeniture (i.e. inheritance by the youngest surviving male child) was known as Borough-English. In 1327, a court case found it to be the tradition in the borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, whereas in areas influenced by Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
culture, primogeniture was prevalent. The tradition was also found across many rural areas of England where lands were held in tenure by socage
Soke (legal)
The term soke ), at the time of the Norman Conquest of England generally denoted "jurisdiction", but due to vague usage probably lacks a single precise definition....
. It also occurred in copyhold
Copyhold
At its origin in medieval England, copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court....
manors in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
In medieval Scandinavia, where partible inheritance
Partible inheritance
Partible inheritance is a general term applied to systems of inheritance in which property may be apportioned among heirs. It contrasts in particular with primogeniture, which requires that the whole inheritance passes to the eldest son, and with agnatic seniority where the succession passes to...
was the norm, there are indications that within that partibility tradition, youngest son had a privilege to receive the parent's house, or ancestral seat, or family manor. This may simply be a reflection of a practicality that elder brothers, when marrying, had often already acquired or built their own houses, and were not in need of another, whereas the youngest much more rarely had done so, either living with his own family at the ancestral house to care for parents, or having not yet grown old enough to marry.
The tradition of youngest having the privilege of receiving the ancestral seat was so strong that in some wealthy noble families with more manors than needed for each heir to have a place, the privilege of ultimogeniture was still practised. The privilege may have held some possibility to get a practically larger share than elder siblings, for example to compensate for grants the parents already routinely had made when providing benefits to young families of elder siblings. There are also indications that the ancestral seat could have passed to a daughter and her family, with sons receiving other properties. This may have been the consequence of another tradition, that daughters received family properties from those held by mother
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
, and that sons received their inheritance from their father's familial holdings.
In the German Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg
Saxe-Altenburg
Saxe-Altenburg was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia.-History:The duchy originated from the medieval Burgraviate of Altenburg in the Imperial Pleissnerland , a possession of the Wettin Margraves of Meissen since 1243...
, land-holdings traditionally passed to the youngest son, who might then employ his older brothers as farm workers.
In Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
and some other areas of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, property was traditionally apportioned by a modified version of ultimogeniture known as masshi souzoku (末子相続). An estate was distributed equally among all sons, except that the youngest son received a double share as a reward for caring for the elderly parents in their last years. This tradition was prohibited by the Meiji
Meiji Constitution
The ', known informally as the ', was the organic law of the Japanese empire, in force from November 29, 1890 until May 2, 1947.-Outline:...
legal code in the late nineteenth century.
Ultimogeniture seems also to have been practised in the Ancient Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
. In early Greek myths, kingship was conferred by marriage to a tribal nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
, who was selected by ultimogeniture or success in a race. Some scholars have noted that many Biblical characters are described as youngest sons or daughters and have inferred a prehistoric ultimogeniture tradition in the Holy Land, such as Isaac, Jacob, Ephraim, Moses, David, and Solomon.
Ultimogeniture of the ancestral seat was also traditional in Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, where Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
passed the heart of the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
to his fourth son, Tolui
Tolui
Tolui, was the youngest son of Genghis Khan by his chief khatun Börte...
as the empire with its conquests was to be partitioned, and in areas of Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where it is traditional among by the Rawang
Nung Rawang
The Rawang people are an ethnic group who inhabit far northern Kachin State of Burma and in Arunachal Pradesh in India. They speak and write in their own language, Rawang ; and have more than 70 tribes within their nation.Kachin legends variously record the Nung-Rawang were the first of six...
and T'ring people for older sons to move away on reaching maturity and for only the youngest son to remain and inherit.
Like other forms of hereditary succession, ultimogeniture was laden with problems. Elder siblings deprived of property could potentially use their experience to coerce younger siblings into relinquishing some or all of their inheritance. In addition, fratricide
Fratricide
Fratricide is the act of a person killing his or her brother....
, among other means, was often employed to eliminate potential challenges from younger siblings and their political supporters, as in the case of Alexander the Great's succession to the Macedonian throne.
Other methods of succession
-
- Main article: Succession order
There are several other ways to organize hereditary succession. Some examples of widely used methods of succession:
- PrimogeniturePrimogeniturePrimogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
- SeniorityAgnatic seniorityAgnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children succeed only after the males of the elder generation have all been exhausted...
- TanistryTanistryTanistry was a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist was the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Man, to succeed to the chieftainship or to the kingship.-Origins:The Tanist was chosen from...
- Degree of kinship, i.e proximity of bloodProximity of bloodProximity of blood, or closeness in degree of kinship, is one of the ways to determine hereditary succession based on genealogy. It was at loggerheads with primogeniture in numerous medieval succession disputes....
- Elective monarchyElective monarchyAn elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected rather than hereditary monarch. The manner of election, the nature of the candidacy and the electors vary from case to case...
, election from among one family - "LotteryLotteryA lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
" - RotationOedipus at ColonusOedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles...
(Taking turns: seniority, tanistry, lottery and election are used and practical ways to organize rotation. Rotation may have aimed at some balance between branches of the House or the Clan.) - GavelkindGavelkindGavelkind was a system of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but found also in other parts of England. Its inheritance pattern bears resemblance to Salic patrimony and as such might testify in favour of a wider, probably ancient Germanic tradition.It was legally abolished in...