Idea of the Day

Dynasties survive through various means. Their success, however, is directly related to five specific goals of a dynasty:

• The ability to retain inherited titles;
• The ability to expand and elevate titles;
• The ability to produce male heirs;
• The ability to maintain lines of male heirs; and 
• The ability to remain high in the public conscience.

If any of these goals fail, the future of the dynasty is in doubt. A monarch incapable of retaining inherited titles loses public face and thus encourages challengers (e.g., War of the Roses). A monarch incapable of expanding or elevating titles threatens stagnation and a lack of public respect for the monarch (e.g., the Kingdom of Hanover). A monarch incapable of producing male heirs will pass the dynasty on to a rival line, one that may not be of the same dynasty (e.g., Stuart succession). A monarch incapable of maintaining male lines threatens the success of the dynasty if the senior line fails (e.g., Bourbon succession). And a monarch incapable of remaining high in the public conscience, even if all other factors are retained, may still be overthrown simply due to a lack of respect.