Morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage,
Generally, this is a marriage between a man of high birth (such as from a
German background
After World War I, the heads of both ruling and formerly reigning German dynasties initially continued the practice of rejecting dynastic titles and/or rights for descendants of "morganatic" unions, but gradually allowed them, sometimes retroactively, effectively de-morganatizing the wives and children. This was accommodated by Perthes' Almanach de Gotha (which categorised German princely families by rank until it ceased publication after 1944) by inserting the offspring of such marriages in a third section of the almanac under entries denoted by a symbol (a dot within a circle) that "signifies some princely houses which, possessing no specific princely patent, have passed from the first part, A, or from the second part into the third part in virtue of special agreements".[5] The Fürstliche Häuser ("Princely Houses") series of the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels ("Genealogical Manual of the Nobility") has followed this lead, likewise enrolling some issue of unapproved marriages in its third section, "III B", with a similar explanation: "Families in this section, although verified, received no specific decree, but have been included by special agreement in the 1st and 2nd sections".[6]
Variations of morganatic marriage were also practised by non-European dynasties, such as the
Etymology
Morganatic, already in use in English by 1727 (according to the
The morning gift has been a customary property arrangement for marriage found first in early medieval Germanic cultures (such as the Lombards) and also among ancient Germanic tribes, and the church drove its adoption into other countries in order to improve the wife's security by this additional benefit.[citation needed] The bride received property from the bridegroom's clan. It was intended to ensure her livelihood in widowhood, and it was to be kept separate as the wife's discrete possession. However, when a marriage contract is made wherein the bride and the children of the marriage will not receive anything else (other than the dower) from the bridegroom or from his inheritance or clan, that sort of marriage was dubbed as "marriage with only the dower and no other inheritance", i.e., matrimonium morganaticum.
Examples
Royal men who married morganatically:
- Genghis Khan followed the contemporary tradition by taking several morganatic wives in addition to his principal wife, whose property passed to their youngest son, also following tradition.
- King Erik XIV of Sweden married the servant Karin Månsdottertwice - once morganatically in 1567, and again although not morganatically in 1568.
- Elisabeth ("Sissi") of Austria.
- Archduke bourgeoiseof a wealthy family in 1557. Their children were given the title Margrave von Burgau, the issue of Ferdinand's second (and equal) marriage being of archducal rank and preferred for purposes of inheritance.
- Piedmonteseas "Bela Rosin" (Little Rosa the Beautiful), she was born a commoner but made Countess di Mirafiori e Fontanafredda in 1858.
- House of Hesse-Darmstadt to which their father belonged, their patrilinear descendants were created Princes of Battenberg, whose branch living in Britain later became House of Mountbatten.
- Late in his life, the widowed ex-king Fernando II of Portugal married the opera singer Elise Hensler, who was created Countess von Edla.
- In 1917, the grandson of Fernando II of Portugal, Afonso, Duke of Porto, the last Prince Royal of Portugal, married the twice-divorced American socialite Nevada Stoody Hayes.
- In 1929, Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón, a Spanish nobleman, married Julia Méndez y Morales, thereby losing all claims to the Spanish throne.
- A list of morganatic branches of the Russian Imperial Family
- The 1900 marriage of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose subsequent assassination triggered World War I, to Countess Sophie Chotek von Wognin was morganatic at the insistence of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.[9]
- Danish astronomer and nobleman Tycho Brahe married Kirsten Jørgensdatter morganatically in 1572. He was allowed to do so because he was close friends with King Frederick II. The king was sympathetic, as he was unable to marry his love due to class differences.[10]
Royal women who married morganatically:
- archduchess of the Imperial House of Habsburg, and by her first marriage a French empress) married morganatically twice after the death of her husband, the emperor Napoleon I. Her second husband was Count Adam Albert von Neipperg. After his death, she married Count Charles-René de Bombelles, her chamberlain, in 1834.
- Queen Isabella II, was a minor. She married Agustín Fernando Muñoz y Sánchez, 1st Duke of Riánsares, who was one of her guards in a secret marriage.
- Princess Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, married Count Elemér Lónyay de Nagy-Lónya et Vásáros-Namény after the death of her first husband. In 1917, Emperor Charles I of Austria conferred upon Lónyay a non-dynastic title of Prince (Fürst).
History
Denmark
Succession to the Danish throne followed the specifications of the
Until 1971, Danish princes who married women who did not belong to a royal or noble family were refused the sovereign's authorization, renouncing their right of succession to the throne and royal title (
Neither of the children of
France
Morganatic marriage was not recognized as a concept in French law.[13] Since the law did not distinguish, for marital purposes, between ruler and subjects, marriages between royalty and the noble heiresses to great fiefs became the norm through the 16th century, helping to aggrandize the House of Capet while gradually diminishing the number of large domains held in theoretical vassalage by nobles who were, in practice, virtually independent of the French crown: by the marriage of Catherine de' Medici to the future King Henry II in 1533, the last of these provinces, the county of Auvergne, came to the crown of France.[14]
Antiquity of nobility in the legitimate male line, not noble
Once the
Moreover, there was a French practice, legally distinct from morganatic marriage but used in similar situations of inequality in status between a member of the royal family and a spouse of lower rank: an "openly secret" marriage. French kings authorized such marriages only when the bride was past child-bearing or the marrying prince already had dynastic heirs by a previous spouse of royal descent. The marriage ceremony took place without
In secret marriage, Louis XIV wed his second wife,
German-speaking Europe
The practice of morganatic marriage was most common in the German-speaking parts of Europe, where equality of birth (Ebenbürtigkeit) between the spouses was considered an important principle among the reigning houses and high nobility.[8] The German name was Ehe zur linken Hand ("marriage by the left hand") and the husband gave his left hand during the wedding ceremony instead of the right.[3]
Perhaps the most famous example in modern times was the 1900 marriage of the heir to the throne of
Although the issue of morganatic marriages were ineligible to succeed to their families' respective thrones, children of morganatic marriages have gone on to achieve dynastic success elsewhere in Europe.
Likewise, from the morganatic marriage of
Occasionally, children of morganatic marriages have overcome their non-dynastic origins and succeeded to their family's realms. Margrave Leopold inherited the throne of Baden, despite being born of a morganatic marriage, after all dynastic males of the House of Zähringen died out. The son of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, by his second wife Louise Caroline Geyer von Geyersberg, who belonged to the minor nobility, Leopold became a prince in 1817, at the age of 27, as the result of a new law of succession. Baden's grand-ducal family faced extinction, so Leopold was enfranchised by international treaty and married to a princess, ascending the throne in 1830. His descendants ruled the grand duchy until the abolition of the monarchy in 1918.
Other reigning German families adopted similar approaches when facing a lack of male heirs. In 1896 the Princely House of Schwarzburg, with the Sondershausen branch numbering two elderly childless princes and Rudolstadt just one childless prince, recognised Prince Sizzo von Leutenberg, morganatic son of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, as a Prince of Schwarzburg and heir to the two principalities.
The senior line of the dynasty ruling the
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a few families considered in Germany to be morganatic were considered for crowns elsewhere, constituting unexpected rehabilitation of their status.
Relying upon the
In the former Royal Family of Saxony
Luxembourg
When the
Russia
An early victim of the Pauline laws was
One emperor,
Beginning a novel tradition, one of that couple's daughters, Princess Olga Aleksandrovna Yurievskaya (1873–1925), in 1895 married the child of an 1868 morganatic marriage in the
Less fortunate among the Romanovs was
Nicholas II forbade his brother,
After the murder of Nicholas II and his children, the Imperial Family's morganatic marriages restricted the number of possible claimants.
Sweden
King Eric XIV of Sweden married Karin Månsdotter, a farmer's daughter, in 1568.
Transkei
Standards of social classification and marital rules resembling the traditions of dynastic Europe can also be found in a number of sovereign nations in Africa. Here, a number of its peoples have legalized traditional authority as manifested in the recognized hereditary transmission of chieftaincy in historically relevant regions of the continent (e.g., the Asantehene of Ghana).
An example of the form that morganatic unions tend to take amongst African royalty can be found in the biography of
Travancore and Cochin
In the erstwhile
The Cochin Royal family also followed the system of
United Kingdom
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2017) |
The concept of morganatic marriage has never clearly existed in any part of the United Kingdom, and historically the English crown descended through marriages with commoners as late as the 17th century. Only two of the six marriages Henry VIII made to secure an heir were with royal brides, and Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV of England, was also a commoner.
Another link in the English succession involving marriage with a commoner was between John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. When they married after co-habiting for several years all children born previously were subsequently legitimated by Act of Parliament. King Henry IV later declared that they could not inherit the crown, but it is not clear that he had the right to do this. This marriage was important, as King Henry VII was descended from it, but Parliament still declared that he was king, so some issues remained unresolved.
The marriage of George IV as Prince of Wales to Maria Fitzherbert in 1785 is frequently referred to as morganatic: it was in fact doubly in breach of law, as a marriage to a Catholic and one not having been sanctioned by the king.
As in nearly all European monarchies extant in the 21st century, most approved marriages in the
For example,
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
On 16 November 1936 Edward VIII informed Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he intended to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson, proposing that he be allowed to do so morganatically and remain king.[43] Baldwin expressed his belief that Mrs. Simpson would be unacceptable to the British people as queen due to her status as a divorcee, which contradicted Church of England doctrine at the time,[44] but agreed to take further soundings. The prospect of the marriage was rejected by the British Cabinet.[45] The other Dominion governments were consulted[46] pursuant to the Statute of Westminster 1931, which provided in part that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom."[47][48] Baldwin suggested three options to the prime ministers of the five Dominions of which Edward was also king: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Irish Free State. The options were:
- Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry and she become queen (a royal marriage);
- Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry, but she not become queen, instead receiving some courtesy title (a morganatic marriage); or
- Abdication for Edward and any potential heirs he might father, allowing him to make any marital decisions without further constitutional implications.
The second option had European precedents, including Edward's own maternal great-grandfather, Duke Alexander of Württemberg, but no unambiguous parallel in British constitutional history. William Lyon Mackenzie King (Prime Minister of Canada), Joseph Lyons (Prime Minister of Australia) and J. B. M. Hertzog (Prime Minister of South Africa) opposed options 1 and 2. Michael Joseph Savage (Prime Minister of New Zealand) rejected option 1 but thought that option 2 "might be possible ... if some solution along these lines were found to be practicable" but "would be guided by the decision of the Home government".[49] Thus the majority of the Commonwealth's prime ministers agreed that there was "no alternative to course (3)".[50] On 24 November, Baldwin consulted the three leading opposition politicians in Britain: Leader of the Opposition Clement Attlee, Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair and Winston Churchill. Sinclair and Attlee agreed that options 1 and 2 were unacceptable and Churchill pledged to support the government.[51]
The letters and diaries of working-class people and ex-servicemen generally demonstrate support for the King, while those from the middle and upper classes tend to express indignation and distaste.[52] The Times, The Morning Post, the Daily Herald, and newspapers owned by Lord Kemsley, such as The Daily Telegraph, opposed the marriage. On the other hand, the Express and Mail newspapers, owned by Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Rothermere, respectively, appeared to support a morganatic marriage.[53] The King estimated that the newspapers in favour had a circulation of 12.5 million, and those against had 8.5 million.[54]
Backed by Churchill and Beaverbrook, Edward proposed to broadcast a speech indicating his desire to remain on the throne or to be recalled to it if forced to abdicate, while marrying Mrs Simpson morganatically. In one section, Edward proposed to say:
Neither Mrs. Simpson nor I have ever sought to insist that she should be queen. All we desired was that our married happiness should carry with it a proper title and dignity for her, befitting my wife. Now that I have at last been able to take you into my confidence, I feel it is best to go away for a while, so that you may reflect calmly and quietly, but without undue delay, on what I have said.[55]
Baldwin and the British Cabinet blocked the speech, saying that it would shock many people and would be a grave breach of constitutional principles.[56]
Ultimately, Edward decided to give up the throne for "the woman I love",
- We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent.
- The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it.
- We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstances.[59]
The new King's firm view, that the Duchess should not be given a royal title, was shared by Queen Mary and George's wife, Queen Elizabeth.[60] The Duchess bitterly resented the denial of the royal title and the refusal of the Duke's relatives to accept her as part of the family.[61][62] In the early days of George VI's reign the Duke telephoned daily, importuning for money and urging that the Duchess be granted the style of Royal Highness, until the harassed King ordered that the calls not be put through.[63] However, within the household of the Duke and Duchess, the style "Her Royal Highness" was used by those who were close to the couple.[64]
Morganatic vs. invalid
The
England/Scotland
James II/VII and Anne Hyde
It has been suggested that
See also
- Agnatic seniority
- Clandestinity (canon law)
- Lex Canuleia
Unequal marriage
- Concubinage
- Courtesan
- Gold digger
- Hypergamy
- Inter-caste marriage
- Marriage à la façon du pays
- Misyar marriage
- Plaçage
- Signare
- Sugar baby
- War bride
References
- ^ Stritof, Sheri & Bob. "Left-Handed Marriage". about.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
- ^ a b Webster's Online Dictionary Archived 2012-02-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g Diesbach, Ghislain de. Secrets of the Gotha (translated from the French by Margaret Crosland). Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London, 1967. pp. 18, 25–26, 35, 179–182, 186–187.
- ^ "Hugh Chisholm, editor. Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. Volume 18. Morganatic Marriage. University Press, 1911, p. 835.
- ^ a b c Almanach de Gotha (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1944), pages 43, 363–364, 529. French
- ISBN 3-7980-0700-4.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition
- ^ a b Philological Society. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Morganatic. Clarendon Press, 1908. p. 663.
- ISBN 978-0-00-751975-0.
- ^ Thoren & Christianson 1990, p. 45.
- ^ Bricka, Carl Fredrik and Laursen, Laurs. Dansk Biografisk Lexikon. Julius af Glucksborg. Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, 1894. Volume 8, p. 617. (Danish).
- ^ History of Roskilde. Royal House: Rosenborg. Retrieved 2012/5/2. Danish.
- ISBN 2-913211-00-3.
- Père Anselme(1967). Histoire de la Maison Royale de France. Paris: Editions du Palais Royal. p. 531.
- ^ a b c de la Roque, Gilles-Andre. Traite de la Noblesse. Du Gentilhomme de nom et d'armes. Etienne Michalet, Paris, 1678, pp. 5, 8-10.
- ^ Blet, Pierre. Le Clergé de France et la Monarchie, Etude sur les Assemblées Générales du Clergé de 1615 à 1666. Université Grégorienne, Rome, 1959, pp. 399-439.
- ^ Degert, (Abbé). "Le mariage de Gaston d'Orléans et de Marguerite de Lorraine," Revue Historique 143:161-80, 144:1-57. French.
- ^ Pothier, Robert. Traité des successions, Chapitre I, section I, article 3, § 4. French.
- Lippe. University Press, 1911, pp. 740-741.
- ^ Velde, Francois. Heraldica.org. The 1895-1905 Succession Dispute. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 2012/5/2.
- ^ London Times. Düsseldorfer Nachrichten excerpt. 1918/11/5. p. 8.
- ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
- ^ a b Velde, Francois. Heraldica.org. Succession in Nassau and Luxemburg. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 2012/5/2.
- ^ Martens, Georg Friedrich von. Recueil de Traités, vol. 3, pp. 645-685. French. Translation from The Map of Europe by Treaty (vol. 2, p. 2013-14) by Edward Hertslet.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9771961-8-0.
- ^ ISBN 2-904177-01-9
- ^ ISBN 0-8063-5172-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-684-83430-8.
- ^ ISBN 0-394-58048-6.
- ISBN 9781921536359. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2009.)
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help - ^ "Swaziland prince and princess attend Boston University". WGBH Boston. 13 May 1987. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ Travancore State Manual Vol ii 1940 by TK Velu Pillai
- ^ Travancore State Manual Vol ii 1940 by TK Velu Pillai and TSM Vol II 1906 by V Nagam Aiya
- ^ Staff Correspondent (19 November 2014). "Seeking royal roots". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ISBN 0-8063-5172-1.
- ^ Somervell, Sir Donald. Memorandum, Attorney General to Home Secretary, 14 April 1937, National Archives file HO 144/22945.
- ^ "Introducing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge". Time. 29 April 2011.
- ^ "TRH The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall". The Royal Family. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
After the wedding, Mrs. Parker Bowles became known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. If and when The Prince of Wales accedes to the throne, she will be known as HRH The Princess Consort.
- ^ "Biography". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
- ^ "Camilla 'will be Charles' queen'". BBC. London. 2005-03-21. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
- ^ Coughlan, Sean (5 February 2022). "Queen wants Camilla to be known as Queen Consort". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Bridge, London (2022-09-08). "The Queen Consort". The Royal Family. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
- ^ HRH The Duke of Windsor. A King's Story. 1951. London: Cassell and Co., p. 332.
- ^ Marriage in Church After a Divorce, Church of England, archived from the original (doc) on 15 September 2012, retrieved 9 March 2013
- ISBN 0-297-77947-8, p. 346
- ^ Windsor, p. 354
- ^ Statute of Westminster 1931 c.4, The UK Statute Law Database, retrieved 1 May 2010
- Taylor, A.J.P., English History, 1914-1945, Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 401.
- ^ Williams, p. 130
- ^ Éamon de Valera quoted in Bradford, p. 188
- ^ Williams, p. 113
- ^ See, for example, Williams, pp. 138–144
- ^ Beaverbrook, p. 68; Broad, p. 188 and Ziegler, p. 308
- ^ Ziegler, p. 308 and the Duke of Windsor, p. 373
- ^ The Duke of Windsor, p. 361
- ^ Casciani, Dominic (30 January 2003), King's abdication appeal blocked, BBC News, retrieved 2 May 2010
- ^ Edward VIII, Broadcast after his abdication, 11 December 1936 (PDF), Official website of the British monarchy, retrieved 1 May 2010
- ^ Diary of Neville Chamberlain quoted in Bradford, p. 243
- ^ Attorney General to Home Secretary (14 April 1937) National Archives file HO 144/22945
- ^ Home Office memo on the Duke and Duchess's title, National Archives, archived from the original on 31 December 2010, retrieved 2 May 2010
- , retrieved 2 May 2010 (subscription required)
- ISBN 0-671-61209-3cited in Bradford, p. 232
- ^ Ziegler, p. 349
- ^ Higham, p. 232
- ^ Van der zee and Van der zee, 1688: A Revolution in the family. Viking, Great Britain: 1988. p 52
Further reading
- Crawford, Donald (1997). Michael and Natasha. Scribner. ISBN 0-684-83430-8.
- Thoren, Victor E.; Christianson, John Robert (1990). The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe. ISBN 978-0-521-35158-4.