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Apanage
(807 words)

An apanage is the endowment granted by a reigning sovereign to family members excluded from territorial sovereignty, to provide for them in a style appropriate to their estate. The term derives from Medieval Latin apanagium (also appanamentum, from appanare, “furnish, endow”). The term first appears in German-speaking Europe in the 16th/17th century, but the institution is older. Other German terms included Deputat, Erbgebührnis, Landesportion, and Pension. Its use in English dates from ca. 1600.

The institution of apanage emerged in the context of sole succession a…

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Schnettger, Matthias, “Apanage”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_016933>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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