Legitimism

Legitimism is the principle that hereditary or traditionally recognized rulers possess rightful sovereignty, especially when revolutionary or constitutional changes displace them.

Bourbon Restoration: The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France from 1814 to 1830. Its return after Napoleon gave French legitimists a concrete restoration project.
Hereditary monarchy: A monarchy in which the crown passes through a ruling family according to succession rules. Legitimism commonly treats dynastic inheritance as the source of a ruler’s title.
Joseph de Maistre: A Savoyard counter-revolutionary thinker who defended monarchy and religious authority. His defense of inherited authority helped shape the intellectual setting of post-revolutionary legitimism.
Orleanism: A French monarchist movement supporting the Orléans dynasty and a constitutional monarchy. Orleanists accepted Louis Philippe’s branch as rightful, opposing Bourbon legitimist succession claims.
Congress of Vienna: A 1814–1815 diplomatic settlement that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Its conservative settlement treated dynastic legitimacy as a basis for political order.
Primogeniture: A succession rule that gives priority to the eldest child, traditionally often the eldest son. Rules of inheritance can determine which claimant legitimists regard as rightful.
Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême: The eldest son of Charles X and a Bourbon claimant to the French throne after 1830. His dynastic position mattered to legitimists after Charles X abdicated.
Bonapartism: A French political movement supporting the Bonaparte dynasty and its model of strong executive rule. Bonapartists grounded their claim in Napoleonic legacy and popular approval rather than older Bourbon inheritance.
French Revolution: A period of political upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and reshaped European politics. The revolution’s overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy made rightful sovereignty a contested question.
Salic law: A rule excluding women and their descendants from succession to certain crowns, notably the French throne. Its interpretation shaped disputes over who could inherit the French crown.

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