Proximity of blood

Proximity of blood, or closeness in 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 principle of successional representation, a component of primogeniture. Proximity of blood and primogeniture were at loggerheads in numerous medieval succession disputes.

Feudal custom accorded quite a strong value to this claim. Today, it is applied only in the Netherlands and only when it comes to collateral heirs (see the line of succession to the Dutch throne).

Examples:

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