Salic, << SAL ihk, >> law was a set of laws used in Europe during the Middle Ages. The laws were written in Latin and based on Germanic customs. Historians believe that Clovis, a king of the Germanic people known as Salian Franks, had the laws written down about A.D. 500.
In the 1300’s, the Salic law played an important part in history. The last son of King Philip IV of France died without a direct male heir. Edward III of England, son of a daughter of Philip IV, claimed the kingdom. To keep Edward from gaining the throne, French lawyers argued that the Salic law forbade inheritance of a kingdom by or through a woman. The French recognized Philip VI, son of a brother of Philip IV, as their king. The resulting struggle between France and England became known as the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453).
The Salic law actually said nothing about royal succession. It simply stated that women could not inherit Salic land. As a result of the dispute over the French throne, however, the term Salic law came to mean the idea that a woman or her descendants could not inherit royal authority.
