A secundogeniture (from 'following, second', and 'born') was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

.Luard, Evan.
The Balance of Power: The System of International Relations, 1648–1815
'. Springer, 2016. 159. This was a special form of

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

in which the second and younger son received more possessions and prestige than the apanage which was usual in principalities practising

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

. It avoided the generational division of the estate to the extent that occurred under gavelkind, and at the same time gave younger branches a stake in the stability of the house. In the rare cases in which the beneficiary was the third son in the order of succession, the second being already the holder of a secundogeniture, the domain given as a benefit was called a tertiogeniture.

Creation

The creation of a secundogeniture was often regulated by a house law. The younger sons would receive some territory, but much less than the older brother, and they would not be sovereign. Examples of such house laws would be * the House Treaty of Gera in Brandenburg * the testament of John George I of Saxony and the of 1657, in which John George I's sons regulated the details. A secundogeniture is different from a partition. A ''partition'' creates two (or more) separate, largely independent states. An example of a partition would be the division of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

after the death of Philip I of Hesse. Nevertheless, there have been intermediate cases between a secundogeniture and a proper partition.

Examples

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in 63 AD *

Brandenburg-Küstrin The Neumark (), also known as the New March () or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder, Oder River in territory which became part of History of Poland (1945–1989), ...

* Brandenburg-Schwedt *

Duchy of Modena and Reggio The Duchy of Modena and Reggio (; ; ) was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northern Italy, Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It was ruled since its establishment by the noble House of Este, and from 1814 ...

under the House of Austria-Este (a tertiogeniture) *

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

under the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

* Hesse-Homburg * Hesse-Rotenburg * Palatinate-Birkenfeld * Palatinate-Sulzbach * Saxe-Merseburg *

Saxe-Weissenfels Saxe-Weissenfels () was a Duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony upon the extinction of the line ...

Saxe-Zeitz The Duchy of Saxe-Zeitz () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1656–57 as a secundogeniture of the Electorate of Saxony, Electoral Saxon house of House of Wettin. Its capital was Zeitz. The territory fell back to the Wettin ...

* Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg * Württemberg-Mömpelgard

References

{{reflist Inheritance Nobility Fatherhood Order of succession

Creation

Examples

See also

References