Ultimogeniture

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Agnatic ultimogeniture diagram. The grey square is the current holder of the property, the black squares are deceased, the numbers indicate his potential successors in order of succession as things stand. Agnatic ultimogeniture diagram.svg
Agnatic ultimogeniture diagram. The grey square is the current holder of the property, the black squares are deceased, the numbers indicate his potential successors in order of succession as things stand.

Ultimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance by the last-born of a privileged position in a parent's wealth or office. The tradition has been far rarer historically than primogeniture (sole inheritance by the first-born) or partible inheritance (division of the estate among the children).

Contents

Advantages and disadvantages

Ultimogeniture might be considered appropriate in circumstances in which the youngest child had been assigned the role of "keeping the hearth", taking care of the parents and continuing at home, and elder children had had time and opportunity to succeed in the world and provide for themselves. In a variation on the system, elder children might have received a share of land and moveable property at a younger age such as by marrying and founding their own family. Ultimogeniture might also be considered appropriate for the estates of elderly rulers and property owners, whose children were likely to be mature adults.

Those who stand to gain from ignoring the stipulation under ultimogeniture are more likely to have the facility to do so, when compared to other succession laws. For example, under primogeniture tradition, younger siblings stand to gain if they can bypass said tradition; elder siblings, however, have more time and opportunities to gain power, wealth, experience and influence to better solidify their inheritance claim. In ultimogeniture elder siblings, especially the first born of the relevant gender, are heavily incentivized and more empowered to sidestep the tradition, especially if primogeniture inheritance is a culturally familiar concept. This can be achieved through coercion, assassination, fratricide or even patricide to move themselves up the succession order. This may be an explanation as to why primogeniture traditions tend to be more prevalent than ultimogeniture.

Examples of use

In Japan, ultimogeniture can be seen from the mythological era with the gods, to the time of Emperor Ōjin. [11] Additionally, in some southwestern 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 or children except that the youngest received a double share as a reward for caring for the elderly parents in their last years. Official surveys conducted during the early years of the Meiji era showed that the most common family form throughout the country during the Edo period was characterized by stem structure, patrilineal descent, patrivirilocal[ clarification needed ] residence and patrilineal primogeniture, but in some southwestern areas, that combination of partible inheritance and ultimogeniture was sometimes used. [12]

See also

Notes

  1. Alternatively rendered as borough English and Borough-English. [6]

References

  1. Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. Deut 21.
  3. 1 2 Frazer, Sir James George (1921). Capps; Page; Rouse (eds.). Apollodorus The Library. Vol. 1. The Loeb Classical Library London : William Heinemann, New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 4. ark:/13960/t00012x9f.
  4. "Myths" (Geocities), archived from the original on 27 October 2009
  5. 1 2 3 EB (1911).
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 EB (1878).
  7. Yearbook of 22 Edward IV. fol. 32b.
  8. "Saxe-Altenburg", Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed.
  9. 1 2 Philips, Amali (2003). "Stridhanam: Rethinking Dowry, Inheritance and Women's Resistance Among the Syrian Christians of Kerala." Anthropologica. Canadian Anthropology Society.
  10. 1 2 Leustean, Lucian N. (30 May 2014). Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. ISBN   9781317818656.
  11. 太田亮『日本上代に於ける社会組織の研究』、磯部甲陽堂、1929年。
  12. Wall, Richard Wall; Hareven, Tamara K.; Ehmer, Joseph (eds.), Family History Revisited: Comparative Perspectives, pp.  343–344
  13. The Influence of the Great Code "Yasa" on the Mongolian Empire, archived from the original on 15 June 2013
  14. The Arts of the Mongols
  15. (Linguist List), archived from the original on 10 April 2002
  16. "Bamboo Buildings of the Dai Ethnics - CITS". www.cits.net. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  17. Yngste sons rätt, Nordisk familjebok . (in Swedish)

Bibliography