Patrilineality
Patrilineality (a.k.a
agnatic kinship) is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage; it generally involves the
inheritance of property, names or titles through the
male line as well.
A
patriline is a
line of descent from a male
ancestor to a
descendant (of either
sex) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are
male. In a patrilineal
descent system (=
agnatic descent), an individual is considered to belong to the same
descent group as his or her father. This is in contrast to the less common pattern of
matrilineal descent.
The
agnatic ancestry of an individual is that person's pure male ancestry.An
agnate is one's (male) relative in an unbroken male line: a kinsman with whom one has a common ancestor by descent in unbroken male line.
In medieval and later
Europe, the
Salic Law was purported to be the grounds for only males being able for hereditary succession to monarchies and fiefs, i.e in patrilieal or agnatic succession.
The fact that the
Y chromosome is paternally inherited enables patrilines, and agnatic kinships, of men to be traced through genetic analysis.
The line of descent for monarchs and main personalities is almost exclusively through the main male personalities. See
Davidic line.
*
Matrilineality*
Hypodescent*
Hyperdescent
