Tanistri ( Eng. Tanistry ) - the tradition of determining the successor of the leader, which existed among the Celtic clans of Scotland and Ireland , according to which the head of the clan or king should be elected head of all families belonging to him, and at the same time he should be elected a tannist - his immediate heir. The head of the clan was not supposed to have any physical or mental vices and to be, by its various individual characteristics, the most worthy clan to rule. Formally, he was elected for life, but could be removed from the title in the case of, for example, loss of legal capacity; in the event of death or inability to govern the clan, a pre-elected tannist took his place.
Sometimes sons of current leaders became tanista, but this was not always the case: in most cases, the tannist elected the next senior representative of the same family to which the current leader belonged, that is, for example, his younger sibling or cousin or nephew, if he matched representations of authoritative clan people about a worthy person. The principle of primogeniture did not exist, which is why the rivalry for the right to become a Tanism, both in families and in clans as a whole, was very fierce, and many clan members sought by all means to gain authority in the eyes of the clan, while not shying at the same time killing competitors.
During the reign of King Jacob I , the Tanistra system in Scotland was legally abolished and replaced by the birthright inheritance system in England.
See also
- Law of the land
- Salic law