Pauline Laws
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The Pauline Laws are the
Order of succession
The Grand Duke Paul, although proclaimed heir of the throne under his father Peter III in 1762, had been long denied succession by his mother Catherine II, who deposed (and possibly assassinated) his father later that year. Her long reign (1762-1796) was deemed by many of her contemporaries, and by Paul himself, as an usurpation. While still the heir, Paul designed a future legal instrument to preclude such coups and arbitrary successions. The text of the Pauline Laws stipulated that "the heir should be named by the Law itself so that there should be no doubt as to who should succeed".
Paul I abolished
A female eventually succeeding to the throne would have the style of Empress in her own right, but the laws stipulated that her husband would not become Emperor. A person in line of succession belonging to a religion other than Eastern Orthodoxy was presumed to either convert to this religion or renounce their succession rights. The law established Russian Emperors as "Heads of the Church".
A marriage of a member of the imperial family should not be considered valid until authorized by the Emperor (not unlike the British
Application
Immediately after the assassination of Paul I in 1801, however, his family did not appear to follow these laws strictly, as the oath of allegiance to
Over time, the house laws were amended, and in the late Russian Empire, the laws governing membership in the imperial house, succession to the throne, and other dynastic subjects were divided, with some being included in the
The next monarch,
The latter, still minor, was however denied his succession rights in 1917, when during the
The Grand Duke Michael did not accept the crown in 1917 and the Russian monarchy was abolished. In 1918-1919 the former emperor Nicholas with his family, Grand Duke Michael, and many other Romanovs were killed by the Bolsheviks, and the succession of the defunct Russian throne became disputed between different surviving descendants of the Romanovs in emigration.
Regency
There was no precedent of regency under the Pauline law, the last legal regent being Anna Leopoldovna in 1740-1741. The laws did not provide for automatic identification of who should assume regency over a minor monarch. In 1825, 1855, and 1881, concurrently with the accession manifests of the Emperors, their next living brothers were appointed regents in the eventual situation of their respective nephews (who were all then minors) succeeding to the throne before the legal majority. However, these provisions were never put into effect as such a situation never occurred. In 1904, after the birth of Alexei, his uncle Michael was appointed the eventual regent in case Nicholas II died before his majority. Still, Nicholas rescinded this decision in early 1913 as Michael had contracted a marriage against his will. In all four cases, the eventual regent would be the next adult person in the line of succession.
Religion
The Pauline Laws stipulated only the monarchs themselves were of the Eastern Orthodox faith. They held no provisions of the religion embraced by the monarch's consort or the spouses of those in the line of succession, unlike the
Dynastic marriage
The original Pauline Laws did not contain legal provisions according to which the descendants of the Romanovs born out of an equal marriage (that is, from a legal marriage permitted by the reigning monarch, but other than with a member of another "reigning or possessing family") should be excluded from the succession. Such norms were first enacted as an additional norm by Alexander I on April 1 (O. S. March 20), 1820, upon the divorce of
In the spring of 1911,
On 30 November 1910,
Previously, the
Nonetheless, Tatiana Konstantinovna's marriage was legally morganatic.
The Lord Emperor has seen fit to permit marriages to persons not possessing corresponding rank of not all Members of the Imperial Family, but only of Princes and Princesses of the Blood Imperial ... Princes as well as Princesses of the Blood Imperial, upon contracting a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, shall personally retain the title and privileges which are theirs by birth, with the exception of their right to succession from which they shall have abdicated before entering the marriage. In relation to the categorization of the marriages of Princes and Princesses of the Blood Imperial, the Lord Emperor has seen fit to recognize only two categories in these marriages: (a) equal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and (b) unequal marriages, i.e. those contracted with persons not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, and will not recognize any other categories.
As promised in that communiqué (the so-called "Frederiks Memorandum"), the Emperor proceeded to legalise authorised marriages of imperial Romanovs below grand ducal rank to those who lacked "corresponding rank". Such marriages had been altogether banned, rather than deemed morganatic, by Alexander III's ukase #5868 on 23 March 1889. However, ukase #35731/1489, issued on 11 August 1911, amended the 1889 ban with these words: "Henceforth no grand duke or grand duchess may contract a marriage with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling house".
Both the 1889 and 1911 decrees were addenda to Article 188 of the Pauline laws (recodified as article 63 of the Imperial Family Statute). Left intact, however, was that original statute: "A person of the Imperial family who has entered into a marriage alliance with a person not possessing corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, cannot pass on to that person, or to any posterity that may issue from such a marriage, the rights which belong to the Members of the Imperial family".
Also remaining unrepealed was Article 36 ("Children born of a marriage between a member of the Imperial Family and a person not of corresponding rank, that is, not belonging to a Royal or Ruling House, shall have no right of succession to the Throne"). Aside from Article 188, Article 36 applied to prevent Tatiana Konstantinovna's issue from claiming succession rights.
Her contemplated marriage having been rendered legal, Tatiana Konstantinovna renounced her dynastic rights, as was required. Nicholas II acknowledged that in a ukase addressed to the Imperial Senate on 9 February 1914: "Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna has presented to Us over Her own sign manual, a renunciation of the right to succession to the Imperial Throne of
Tatiana Konstantinovna and her Georgian prince were married at her father's estate at Pavlovsk, on 3 September 1911. The Emperor was present at the wedding and on the same day issued yet another ukase (#35766): "By Our and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich's and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna’s consent, the wedding took place on 24th day of this August [old style] of the Daughter of Their Imperial Highnesses, Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna, with Prince Konstantin Bagration-Mukhransky. In consequence of this order: The Princess Tatiana Konstantiovna to retain the title of Highness and henceforth to bear the name of Her Highness the Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna Princess Bagration-Mukhransky...".[5]
References
- ^ a b Succession to the Imperial Throne of Russia. Fundamental Laws. Edited under the supervision of Antony, Archbishop of Los Angeles and South California. Order of the Imperial Union of Russia, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1984.
- ^ The Russian Imperial Succession, by Brien Purcell Horan
- ^ Almanach de Gotha (in French). emphasis added (1944 ed.). Gotha, Germany: Justus Perthes. 1944. p. 107.
Psse Tatiana-Constantinovna, née à St-Pétersbourg 11 janv. 1890 v.s.; m.: 1. morg. à Pavlosk 24 août 1911 v.s. à Constantin Alexandrovitch pr. Bagration-Moukhransky, † (tué au combat) près de Jarosvavel, arrondt de Lwow, 19 mai 1915 v.s.
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: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ State Archives of the Russian Federation, Series 601. The Emperor Nicholas II. Inventory {register} 1, File 2143, pages 58–59.
- ^ a b Collection of Statutes and Decrees of the Government. 1914. #441.