Female succession to the throne developed over time in Norway
Why was female succession to the throne introduced in Norway only in 1302, after centuries of silence and resistance? In a new doctoral thesis in history, Benjamin Husvik shows that the reform was the result of a complex interplay of political, legal and social changes – in which both the maternal line and requirements of legitimate birth became increasingly important.
In his doctoral thesis, Benjamin Husvik examines how and why female succession to the throne was introduced in Norway at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The study places the Norwegian development in a broader European context and nuances earlier explanations that have mainly linked the reform to King Håkon Magnusson’s lack of male heirs.
– That Håkon Magnusson had only one legitimate daughter, Ingeborg, is an important part of the explanation, but far from the whole story. My results show that the introduction of female succession rested on several interacting factors that had developed over a long period of time, says Benjamin Husvik.
Legitimate birth
A central contribution of the thesis is the analysis of how the requirement of legitimate birth – that is, being born within marriage – gradually gained increased importance for claims to the Norwegian throne from the 1160s onwards. In contrast to earlier research, which has often pointed to the Church as the driving force behind this development, the thesis shows that the change was instead the result of interaction between the secular and the ecclesiastical spheres.
– This was not a one-way process in which the Church imposed new norms on society. Rather, it involved mutual influence between royal power, the aristocracy and ecclesiastical actors, with questions of legitimacy at the centre.
The thesis also highlights the importance of the maternal line for claims to the throne – a perspective that has so far been absent from research on female succession in Norway. Husvik demonstrates that the maternal line had value in claims to the throne and that this value increased over time, which helped pave the way for female succession.
Women’s power and status
In addition to the factors behind the reform, the thesis also analyses its consequences for women’s power and status. The results show that female heirs to the throne rarely became rulers in their own right.
– In most cases, the female heir’s husband was expected to become ruler, which was the norm in large parts of medieval Europe. There were, however, certain opportunities for widows who inherited the realm to be recognised as rulers, says Benjamin Husvik.
The thesis En legitim tronarvinge? Kvinnlig tronföljd, möderne och äkta börd i Norge, 1161–1302 will be defended at a public defence on 6 February at 13:15 in Lisebergssalen (C350), Humanisten, Renströmsgatan 6, Gothenburg.
The thesis is freely available online: https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/90188
Contact:
Benjamin Husvik, Tel: +46 (0)73 346 67 12, Email: benjamin.andersson@gu.se