Prince du sang

A prince of the blood is a person legitimately descended in dynastic line from any of a realm's hereditary monarchs. Historically, the term has been used to refer to men and women descended in the male line from a sovereign, although as absolute primogeniture has become more common in monarchies, those with succession rights through female descent are more likely than in the past to be accorded the princely title (e.g., Belgian Royal Family).

In some European kingdoms, especially France, this appellation was a specific rank in its own right, of a more restricted use than other titles.

History

Under the House of Capet, the monarchy was feudal, and the younger sons and grandsons of kings did not have rights or precedence based on their royal descent. Feudal titles determined rank. Under Philip Augustus, the Duke of Burgundy, a peer of France, could be reckoned to be mightier than the Count of Dreux, a "baron of the second rank", even though the latter is a paternal cousin of the king, while the former was only a distant agnate. In the feudal era, the agnates of the king held no special status. This was because agnatic primogeniture had not yet received its sanction as the law governing the succession to the French throne.