One of the main concerns of absolutism – a political theory that maintains that someone, usually a monarch, must have absolute power, that is, independent of another body – is that the line of succession be crystal clear, clear as water. Perhaps because this is the only way to avoid having to spend a lifetime, a reign, in this case, looking over your shoulder in fear that a traitorous uncle, envious brother, or well-connected but ill-intentioned cousin will get the better of you. get away with it. .

Yet for every king or queen who leaves a childless throne, there is a royal figure who cannot turn the corner without producing offspring, legitimate or not.

Henry I (1100-1135): 29 children

Henry and Edith of Scotland, Anglicized as Matilda, and also his first wife, had two children: Matilda of England and William Adelin.

Adeliza of Leuven, also known as Adelícia or Adela, was the queen consort of England and the second wife of Henry I. She married the king between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. Henrique, in turn, was already fifty-three years old. It is believed that the only reason the king remarried was his desire for a legitimate heir, as his only legitimate heir to date, William Adelin, had died in the sinking of the White Ship. . It happens that, during almost fifteen years of marriage, Adeliza did not give King Henrique any heir. As queen, she took little part in the public life of the kingdom.

In the absence of children with Adela, Enrique I compensated him with bastard children, which he had with his numerous mistresses. It is not known for sure how many illegitimate children Henry had. It is known, however, that many of the children born to these unions were used to further their political goals. As Royal Central explains, “rather than keep his illegitimate children out of public life, the king found advantageous marriages for many of them, elevating them to important positions.” The use of illegitimate children to promote political projects was not uncommon among medieval kings, but the number of descendants of Henry I of England was remarkable, even by the standards of the time.

Edward I (1272-1307): 19 children

With his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, Eduardo I, “Eduardo Pernas Longas” or “Martelo dos Scoceses” as he was known, he had sixteen children, although not all of them managed to reach adulthood. One of his sons became King Edward II (1307-1327). From his second marriage, with Margaret of France, Queen of England, the sovereign also had children, although only two reached adulthood.

Victoria (1837-1901): nine children

The sovereign with the most children was Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Married to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, she had nine children, all of whom lived to adulthood. Her nine direct descendants and twenty-six of her forty-two grandchildren intermarried with other royals and noble families from across the European continent, uniting them and earning her the nickname “the grandmother of Europe”.

Anne of Great Britain (1702-1707): 17 times pregnant

Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, Anne was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. She was also the sovereign who had the most pregnancies: with a total of 17 pregnancies, only five of these resulted in live births, two of which survived after one year of age. William, Duke of Gloucester was the couple’s only child to survive infancy, having lived to be 11 years old.