It's because England was strict on male (agnatic) primogeniture historically, with just like two exceptions in history (Henrietta Godolphin, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough, and Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife), both of which were exceptions specially created by the monarch
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Yeah, and the French even more so; it may well be the application of Salic law here.
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Interestingly one of the most famous duchesses in her own right in history, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was French, although I think that may be because the Duchy of Aquitaine was created prior to the establishment of Salic law
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Hmm, yeah, I don't know, actually! It may be that Aquitaine, being in the south of France, did not operate under Salic law either.
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
Looking briefly; Aquitaine was at some points, a kingdom in its own right (though ruled by Frankish kings in Francia/West Francia) so that might be all the legality needed.
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
It seems like you're right though, the issue was never one put to the French throne itself until 1316, when there was a potential dispute between Louis X's brother (who won) and his daughter. Who was incidentally Queen of Navarre in her own right, so the law didn't apply there.
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
Non-sovereign titles seemed to be nobody's particular business.
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
Ah! Found it. Aquitaine and other nearby regions were governed not by Salic Law, but by Visigothic Law (Liber Judiciorum, as promulgated by Recceswinth in the 7th century); Aquitaine was initially a successor state to the Visigothic Kingdom, only later subject to France.
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
This would also apply in neighboring Toulouse, so you have an own-right countess of Toluouse in the 13th century (Joan).
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Replying to @mssilverstein @arthur_affect and
But none of this seems like it was particularly law-heavy in the details; if there was only a daughter, she would usually get the title, at least, if there were no uncles or cousins to REALLY pick the fight.
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That's the reason for the two exceptions noted in the history of the British peerage The rules said if a Duke died and had only daughters, his title would pass to his closest male-line relative, even if it was some distant cousin, or else go extinct
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Replying to @arthur_affect @mssilverstein and
When this actually came up, and the monarch actually knew the family, they would just pass an Act of Parliament to make a temporary exception to keep this from happening (Coincidentally both times this happened it was under a Queen, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria)
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