ABSTRACT
The often presumed ‘normal’ way of succession to the throne in premodern Europe was by inheriting it after the death of the father. The heir was usually the oldest legitimate son after a system called agnatic primogeniture, which favoured sons before daughters. Dynastic rules of inheritance came into play to determine the next heir in the absence of legitimate sons. Nonetheless, the inheritance of a throne was considered the usual way of succession, even in electoral monarchies like the Holy Roman Empire or Poland-Lithuania in which dynasties of the Habsburg or the Vasa managed to establish a nearly unbroken line of election to the throne. 1
