Succession Wars
Encyclopedia
Wars of succession are prompted by two or more individuals' claim as successor to a deceased or deposed monarch. The individuals are supported by competing factions within the royal court and foreign powers might also intervene through allying themselves with a faction.
Sometimes included in this category is the
Also, after the death of Alexander the Great, there were the Wars of the Successors (Diadochi
).
In fiction
- The AnarchyThe AnarchyThe Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
(England, 1135–1154) - War of Succession of ChampagneWar of Succession of ChampagneThe War of Succession of Champagne was a war from 1216 to 1222 between the nobles of the Champagne region of France, occurring within that region and also spilling over into neighboring duchies...
(1216-1222) - War of the Succession of Flanders and HainaultWar of the Succession of Flanders and HainaultThe War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault was a series of feudal conflicts in the mid-thirteenth century between the children of Margaret II, Countess of Flanders...
(1244-1257) - War of the Succession of Guelders (1371-1379)
- First War of the Portuguese Succession (1383-1385 Crisis) (1383-1385)
- Breton War of SuccessionBreton War of SuccessionThe Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. It was fought between 1341 and 1364. It formed an integral part of the early Hundred Years War due to the involvement of the French and English governments in the conflict; the...
(1341-1364) - Lithuanian Civil War (1431–1435)
- War of the Castilian SuccessionWar of the Castilian SuccessionThe War of the Castilian Succession was the military conflict contested from 1475 to 1479 for the succession of the Crown of Castile fought between the supporters of Juana la Beltraneja, daughter of the late monarch Henry IV of Castile, and those of Henry's half sister, Isabella, who was ultimately...
(1475-1479) - Landshut War of SuccessionLandshut War of SuccessionThe Landshut War of Succession resulted from an agreement between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich and Bavaria-Landshut . The agreement concerned the law of succession when one of the two Dukes should die without a male heir...
(1503-1505) - Inca Civil WarInca Civil WarThe Inca Civil War, the Inca Dynastic War, the Inca War of Succession, or, sometimes, the War of the Two Brothers was fought between two brothers, Huáscar and Atahualpa, sons of Huayna Capac, over the succession to the Inca throne. The war followed Huayna Capac's death in 1527, although it did not...
/War of Inca Succession (1529-1532) - Second War of the Portuguese Succession (1580 Portuguese Succession Crisis)War of the Portuguese SuccessionThe War of the Portuguese Succession was fought from 1580 to 1583 between the two main claimants to the Portuguese throne: António, Prior of Crato, proclaimed in several towns as King of Portugal, and Philip II of Spain, who eventually succeeded in claiming the crown reigning as Philip I of...
(1580-1583) - War of the Jülich SuccessionWar of the Jülich SuccessionThe War of the Jülich Succession was a conflict that began in 1609 and ended in 1614 with the signing of the Treaty of Xanten.-Background:...
(1609–1614) - War of the Mantuan SuccessionWar of the Mantuan SuccessionThe War of the Mantuan Succession was a peripheral part of the Thirty Years' War. Its casus belli was the extinction of the direct male line of the House of Gonzaga in December 1627. Brothers Francesco IV , Ferdinando and Vincenzo II , the last three dukes of Gonzaga, had all died leaving no...
(1628-1631) - War of the Spanish SuccessionWar of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
(1701–1713) - War of the Polish SuccessionWar of the Polish SuccessionThe War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
(1733–1738) - War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian SuccessionThe War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
(1740–1748) - War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779)
- Third War of the Portuguese Succession (Liberal Wars)Liberal WarsThe Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...
(1828-1834)
Sometimes included in this category is the
- War of the English Succession, which is more commonly called the War of the Grand AllianceWar of the Grand AllianceThe Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...
or the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697).
Also, after the death of Alexander the Great, there were the Wars of the Successors (Diadochi
Diadochi
The Diadochi were the rival generals, family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander's empire after his death in 323 BC...
).
In fiction
- The Succession Wars, a series of wars in the BattleTech universe
- The Succession WarsThe Succession WarsThe Succession Wars is a FASA Corporation wargame set in the BattleTech universe, representing the struggle for power at a strategic level....
, a wargame set in the BattleTech universe - The Successions, civil wars over the monarchy of Andor in The Wheel of Time