Proximity of blood

Proximity of blood, or proximity by degree of kinship, is one of the ways to determine hereditary succession based on genealogy. In effect, the application of this rule is a refusal to recognize the right of representation, a component of primogeniture.[1]

Proximity of blood diagram. Legend:
  • Grey: incumbent
  • Square: male
  • Circle: female
  • Black: deceased
  • Diagonal: cannot be displaced

In some feudal entities, proximity of blood was a generally accepted principle. For example, according to the "ancient custom" (French: ancienne coutume) in the Duchy of Burgundy, a grandson could not take precedence over a son or daughter, and it was not even clear whether the ruler's grandson could claim precedence over the ruler's brother.[2]

  1. ^ Kidd 2014, p. 88.
  2. ^ Chattaway 2006, p. 92.