A tradition in some royal families of Europe which prohibited females and descendants in the female line from inheriting land, titles, and offices.
France and Spain, especially in the houses of Valois and Bourbon, followed the Salic Law. A claim of Edward III to the French throne through the descent of his mother, Isabella, was rejected in France because of the Salic Law, and the dispute led to the Hundred Years' War.
When Isabella II of Spain succeeded to the throne, after the Salic Law was rescinded, the Carlists rebelled.
When Victoria became Queen of England, she was not also ruler of Hanover, as her ancestors back to George I had been, because Hanover followed the Salic Law.
The actual Salic Law, a pre-Roman Germanic code from the Salian Franks and instituted under Clovis, dealt with property inheritance, but not the passing of titles.
