A male heir (sometimes heirs male)—usually describing the first-born son (primogeniture) or oldest surviving son of a family—has traditionally been the recipient of the residue of the estate, titles, wealth and responsibilities of his father in a patrilineal system.[1] This system may vary by region but has ancient, perhaps prehistoric, origins, and appears in the Code of Hammurabi: "Since daughters marry strangers and thereby cut themselves off from their family, only sons inherit the paternal estate. It is they who perpetuate the family name, and preserve the ancestral property."[2]
Absence or inadequacy of a male heir has thus been periodically problematic, resulting in succession crises, corporate upheaval, and the occasional war.[3] The presence or absence of a male heir may alter the decision-making patterns of fathers.[4]
^Ferrer Alòs, Llorenç (2005). "When there was no male heir: The transfer of wealth through women in Catalonia (The pubilla)". Continuity and Change. 20: 27–52. doi:10.1017/S0268416004005363. S2CID 154539787.
^Mendelsohn, I. (May 1948). "The Family in the Ancient Near East". The Biblical Archaeologist. 11 (2): 24–40. doi:10.2307/3209201. ISSN 0006-0895. JSTOR 3209201. S2CID 165715784.
^"What's so great about a male heir? | Japan | the Guardian". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Chen, Shu; Ying, Sammy Xiaoyan; Wu, Huiying; You, Jiaxing (2021-08-01). "Carrying on the family's legacy: Male heirs and firm innovation". Journal of Corporate Finance. 69: 101976. doi:10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101976. ISSN 0929-1199. S2CID 236332377.
A maleheir (sometimes heirsmale)—usually describing the first-born son (primogeniture) or oldest surviving son of a family—has traditionally been the...
in legal systems that apply male-preference primogeniture, female heirs apparent are by no means impossible: if a maleheir apparent dies leaving no sons...
wait until death and remarried twice on the basis of lack of producing a maleheir, on the second occasion beheading his queen "for witchcraft"[citation...
Heir and spare, or the heir and the spare, is a term referring to first-born and second-born children, usually male, in patrilineal inheritance systems...
and his heirsmale will. There are other kinds of formulae for inheritance than heirs of the body, such as heirsmale, heirs of the line, heirs portioners...
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was accused by King Henry VIII of adultery after failing to produce the maleheir he so desperately desired. Jane, however, died of postnatal complications...
provide a young maleheir to the throne. The apparent suicide of the Crown Prince in 1889 and the assassination of the subsequent heir in 1914 (considered...
persons of a series of powerful and wealthy male descendants. By keeping his estate intact in the hands of one heir alone, in an ideally indefinite and pre-ordained...
An heir presumptive (FEM: heiress presumptive) is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can...
of Notre-Dame de Paris. Louis' marriage was annulled in 1152 after no maleheir was produced. Immediately after their annulment, Eleanor married Henry...
throne upon the death of the King. From 987 to 1792, all heirs to the French throne were male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. The crown of France under...
III's descendants. The following list outlines the genealogy supporting maleheirs ascendant to the throne during the conflict, and the roles of their cousins...
five daughters, but his property is entailed and can only be passed to a maleheir. His wife also lacks an inheritance, so his family faces becoming poor...
Princess Helena of Denmark. Their only son, also called Otto, was the sole maleheir of his uncle Henry. The ducal house of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the British...
English inheritance law. The rules may stipulate that eligible heirs are heirsmale or heirs general – see further primogeniture (agnatic, cognatic, and...
Latin: Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the maleheir apparent to the English and, later, British thrones. The title originated...
male who was not descended from Qajar dynasty could become the heir apparent. This made all half-brothers of Mohammad Reza ineligible to become heirs...
marriages for royal princes. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, had no maleheir so Edward married his son John to Henry's heiress daughter and John's...
the throne, so she cannot succeed her father. The pressure to produce a maleheir took a toll on Masako's health and she was officially diagnosed with adjustment...
succession are usually either heirmale or heir general – see further primogeniture (agnatic, cognatic, and also equal). "Heirmale" is a genealogical term...
the paternal wish for filicide, particularly for the extinction of the maleheir, in an attempt to ensure one will have no successors. Indo-European mythology...
to pay Robert £2,000 a year for life; if either brother died without a maleheir, the other would inherit his lands; the barons whose lands had been seized...
only by the legitimate, eldest son of the original grantee or that son's maleheir according to masculine primogeniture. In some countries and some families...
brother and his heirs-male), the Earldom of Roberts (to a daughter and her heirs-male), the Barony of Amherst (to a nephew and his heirs-male) and the Dukedom...
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