How did the Salic Law of Succession affect the Bourbon claim to the French throne?

The Salic Law of Succession was a fundamental principle in French history that restricted the royal succession to the male line, explicitly excluding women and those who derived their claim through a female ancestor.12

This rule was instrumental in the rise of the house of Bourbon to the French throne. When the direct male line of the house of Valois became extinct in 1589, the Salic Law dictated that the crown must pass to the senior male heir. As the senior Bourbon representative, Henry IV was able to claim the throne based on this principle of male primogeniture.2

Conversely, the Salic Law was later used to challenge or define Bourbon claims in other contexts. For instance, in 1593, it was invoked to deny the candidacy of the Spanish infanta Isabella for the French throne. Later, the 1713 renunciation of the French throne by Philip V of Spain—a Bourbon—was a critical legal settlement that influenced the succession rights of various Bourbon branches for centuries, including the house of Orléans.13