Jure uxoris
Encyclopedia
Jure uxoris is a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband.

The husband of an heiress became the possessor of her lands and titles jure uxoris, "by right of [his] wife". In the Middle Ages, this was invariably true even for queens regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

 and princesses regnant. Accordingly, the husband of the reigning female monarch became monarch. This was a very common situation in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....

, that existed during the Crusades, so many monarchs acceded to the throne after marrying the queen heir: Fulk, King of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan was a Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of the prominent Lusignan dynasty. He was king of the crusader state of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194...

, Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death...

, Henry II, Count of Champagne and Amalric II of Jerusalem
Amalric II of Jerusalem
Amalric II of Jerusalem or Amalric I of Cyprus, born Amalric of Lusignan , King of Jerusalem 1197–1205, was an older brother of Guy of Lusignan....

.

On the other hand, during the crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

 after the death in the fourteenth century of the King Louis I of Hungary, Sigismund of Luxembourg married Mary of Hungary
Mary of Hungary
Mary of Anjou was queen regnant of Hungary from 1382 until her death in 1395.-Childhood:...

, the daughter of the dead monarch, obtaining the crown through his wife. After the death of Sigismund the same occurred, the Duke Albert II of Habsburg married the King's daughter Elizabeth of Luxembourg, and through her he inherited the throne of Hungary.

In some cases, the king thus ascended, remained king even after the death of the wife, and in some cases left the kingdom to their own heirs who were not issue of the wife in question (cf. Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...

, who ascended as husband of Queen Jadwiga
Jadwiga of Poland
Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...

). In the event of a divorce between a reigning female monarch and her husband, the husband would remain the monarch and the wife could lose her status. One example of this is when Marie of Boulogne
Marie of Boulogne
Marie I was the suo jure Countess of Boulogne from 1159 to 1170. She also held the post of Abbess of Romsey for five years until her abduction by Matthew of Alsace, who forced her to marry him.-Early years:Marie was the youngest daughter of King Stephen of England and his wife Matilda I, Countess...

 and Matthew I of Boulogne were divorced in 1170. Marie ceased to be Countess, while Matthew I continued to reign until 1173.

In later times, the woman remained the monarch, but the husband had some power. For example, Maria Theresa was queen regnant of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

, but her husband Francis
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...

 was Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

. This, however, is an imperfect example as Francis was elected to the title (the Imperial title was legally an elected rather than inherited title, though it often remained in the same dynastic house for long periods) and women were barred from the imperial title.

In Britain, because women were excluded from the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 until the present reign, certain offices could be exercised jure uxoris. For example, in 1780, when Lady Priscilla Bertie
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
Priscilla Barbara Elizabeth Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby was a daughter of the 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. On 23 February 1779, she married Sir Peter Burrell and they later had two children...

 was allowed to inherit the title Baroness Willougby de Eresby
Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Baron Willoughby de Eresby is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby of Eresby Manor, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire. The fourteenth Baron was created Earl of Lindsey in 1626. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl and seventeenth Baron, was created...

 which was abeyant
Abeyance
Abeyance is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly...

 between her and her sister, she was also recognised as the representative of the position of Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable...

, which was likewise abeyant; however, her husband Sir Peter Gwydyr
Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr
Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr PC featured in English politics at the end of the 18th century but he was best known for his involvement in cricket, particularly his part in the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787...

 acted on her behalf in that office instead.

In Portugal, there was a specific condition for a male consort to become a king jure uxoris: fathering a royal heir. Queen Maria I
Maria I of Portugal
Maria I was Queen regnant of Portugal and the Algarves from 1777 until her death. Known as Maria the Pious , or Maria the Mad , she was the first undisputed Queen regnant of Portugal...

 already had children by her husband when she became Queen, so he became King Peter III of Portugal
Peter III of Portugal
Peter III became King of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves by the accession of his wife and niece Queen Maria I in 1777, and co-reigned alongside her until his death.-Biography:...

 at the moment of his wife's accession. In 1836, Queen Maria II married her second husband, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Ferdinand II of Portugal
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , named Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, was King of Portugal as husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal from the birth of their son in 1837 to her death in 1853.In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in...

. Ferdinand became monarch jure uxoris the next year (in 1837), as soon as their first child was born, and he reigned as Ferdinand II, together with his wife. Queen Maria's first husband, Auguste of Beauharnais
Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg
Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg was the first Prince consort of Maria II of Portugal.-Family:...

, was not monarch jure uxoris, because he died before he could father an heir.

In Spain, the Royal Family has allowed husbands of princesses to become a "duke consort". The title is normally acquired through-marriage and will be lost in a divorce. Such as when Jaime de Marichalar divorced Infanta Elena; he also lost his title. The current Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca's husband is Duke consort of Palma de Mallorca
Duchess of Palma de Mallorca
Duchess of Palma de Mallorca is a noble title granted for life by King Juan Carlos I of Spain for his daughter, Infanta Cristina, on 26 September 1997 by her marriage to Iñaki Urdangarin.- Dukes of Palma de Mallorca :...

.

Jure uxoris monarchs are not to be confused with kings consort
King consort
King consort is an alternative title to the more usual "prince consort" - which is a position given in some monarchies to the husband of a reigning queen. It is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a prince consort, which is the male equivalent of a...

, who were merely consorts of their wives, not co-rulers.
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