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"STRANGER BLOOD": THE CAPACITY OF A FOREIGNER TO INHERIT LAND OR CROWN

By juxtaposing John's dubious title with the Faulconbridge controversy Shakespeare's play poses the question of how inheritance and succession are related. Implicit in the disposition of the throne by will is the analogy between the demise of the crown and the devolution of property. But is the analogy a sound one? To what extent do the legal principles governing the inheritance property apply to the succession?³⁸ Because English law precluded foreigners iting land,³⁹ this question bore significantly on a central issue in the succession debate: whether a foreigner could accede to the English throne. John's reign was a central interpretive crux on this point: did his tenure affirm the principle that no foreigner can sit on the throne (i.e., was Arthur barred by having been born in France?), or was it simply a usurpation by John that deprived the rightful...

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1. Introduction
2. "By Will Bequeath'D": The Monarch's Power To Fix The Succession By Will
3. "Stranger Blood": The Capacity Of A Foreigner To Inherit Land Or Crown
4. "Speak, Citizens, For England": The Process Of Determining The Successor
5. Copyright