ABSTRACT
William Shakespeare’s Henry V, the dramatic conclusion to the bard’s Henriad tetralogy, begins with an explicit reference to the succession practices of France, specifically the Salic Law: Then hear me, gracious sovereign and you peers That owe yourselves, your lives, and services To this imperial throne. There is no bar To make against your highness’ claim to France But this, which they produce from Pharamond: ‘In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant’– ‘No woman shall succeed in Salic land’– Which ‘Salic land’ the French unjustly gloss To be the realm of France, and Pharamond The founder of this law and female bar. 2
