Male-preference Primogeniture
<p ><b>Primogeniture</b> is the right, by law or custom, of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firstborn" title="Firstborn" >firstborn</a> to inherit the entire <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_(law)" title="Estate (law)" >estate</a>, to the exclusion of younger siblings (compare to<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimogeniture" title="Ultimogeniture" >ultimogeniture</a>). Historically, the term implied <i>male</i> primogeniture, to the exclusion of females.<sup class="Template-Fact" >[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a></i>]</sup> According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy" title="Normandy" >Norman</a> tradition, the first-born son inherited the entirety of a parent's wealth, estate, title or office and then would be responsible for any further passing of the inheritance to his siblings. In the absence of children, inheritance passed to the collateral relatives, in order of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniority" title="Seniority" >seniority</a> of the males of collateral lines. The eligible descendants of deceased elder siblings take precedence over living younger siblings, such that inheritance is settled in the manner of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth-first_search" title="Depth-first search" >depth-first search</a>.
The principle has applied in history to inheritance of real property (land) and inherited titles and offices, most notably monarchies.
Variations on primogeniture modify the right of the first-born son to the entirety of a family's inheritance (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appanage" title="Appanage" >appanage</a>) or, in the West since World War II with the wider promotion of feminism, eliminate the preference for male over female siblings. Six <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchies_in_Europe" title="Monarchies in Europe" >monarchies in Europe</a> have eliminated male preference: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Sweden" title="Monarchy of Sweden" >Sweden</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Norway" title="Monarchy of Norway" >Norway</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_Netherlands" title="Monarchy of the Netherlands" >Netherlands</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Belgium" title="Monarchy of Belgium" >Belgium</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Denmark" title="Monarchy of Denmark" >Denmark</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_of_Luxembourg" title="Grand Duke of Luxembourg" >Luxembourg</a>.</p>