inheriting the kingdom

     You may have watched a Hollywood historical epic and wondered why it was so important for the king to have a son to inherit his crown and kingdom. You might remember the story of Henry VIII of England, for example, who defied the pope and founded a new religion, because he wanted a son. His first wife had only one child, a daughter, so he wanted to divorce her and marry again--hence the new religion.
    If a king died and left no son to succeed him, the remaining nobles often fought over who would become the next king. Leaving only a daughter might be just as bad. If she was young and unmarried, they would fight over who would marry her, and so become the king.
     The personal qualities or capacities of a prince or duke didn't matter as much as the people finding a successor on whom they could agree. If they refused to agree on a king, their country might have a civil war, making stable government impossible. The best way to keep the government intact was to have a male heir. As long as crowns were inherited, no one argued over who should be king--if the king left a son when he died.
     The story of the successors to Henry VIII's crown has an interesting twist. He went through 6 wives to get a son to inherit his kingdom. His son was still a child when he became king, and didn't live long. Then his oldest daughter inherited the crown and kept it for a couple of years of religious strife. When his younger daughter Elizabeth I became queen, she ended the religious strife, and governed England for decades still considered its "golden age". Elizabeth I never married, and is still called the "Virgin Queen". She insisted that if she married, her husband would be the king, and might outrank her, as in a deck of cards.
     If you would like to watch a miniseries about Henry VIII , you can look for "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" , from the BBC in the 1970's. There were six episodes, one for each wife.