The English crown is hereditary. Over the centuries, the succession has been largely determined by both blood and the accidents of birth.
Few periods in history have brought women to the fore, to the centre of events, as the Anarchy did in England. From 1135 to 1154, conflict raged when Stephen of Blois usurped the throne that rightfully belonged to his cousin Empress Matilda, widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.
The Tetrarchy, inaugurated in 285 AD by Emperor Diocletian, had been instituted mainly with the intent of mitigating successions tribulations such as those that had plagued the third century.
At the beginning of Herodotus’ Histories, the Athenian lawgiver Solon, one of the seven sages of ancient Greece, points out to his interlocutor Croesus, King of Lydia, that if a person lives to be 70, they will experience 26,250 days – by his reckoning the length of a year is 375 days – and that not any two days will be alike.
Due to the growing independence and complexity of society, the greatest families in Rome met their downfalls. However, the heiresses of those great houses took up the chance to reclaim the power that had been taken from their families.
