Tanistry
From Freepedia
Tanistry (Irish/Gaeilge Tàinste;Scottish Gaelic: Tànaisteachd) was the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the royal dynastys of Ireland and her offshoot nations.
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Origins
The Tainiste was chosen from among the heads of the roydammna (litterally, those of kingly material). Or alternatively among all males of the sept in question, and elected by them in full assembly. The office existed since the dawn of recorded history in Ireland, and probably greatly pre-dates it. For example, a story concerning Cormac mac Airt lists his eldest son as his Tainste. Following his death at the hands of a member of the Deisi (and the belmishing of Cormac during the same incident), another roydammna, Cairbre Lifechair, succeded as King.
In Ireland, it remained fully in force among the main dynastys, as well as lesser lords and cheiftains, till the early 17th century, and lingered, albeit in much reduced form, till as late as the 1840's. It was revived in the 20th century for the purposes of Clan gatherings, especially by fully organised clans with membership deeply aware and appreciative of their history.
Candidates and Functions
The Tainiste held office for life and was required by custom to be of full age, in possession of all his faculties and without any remarkable blemish of mind or body. At the same time, and subject to the same conditions, a tanist or next heir to the Monarchy was elected, who if the king died or became disqualified, at once became king. Most usually a former king's son became tanist (sometimes the son of the king simultaneously elected), but not because the system of primogeniture was in any way recognized; indeed, the only principle adopted was that the dignity of chieftainship should descend to the eldest and most worthy of the same blood.
The usual rules for qualification as a roydammna was that a candidate had to be a member of the "Derbfhine", a kindred all descended in the male line from a common ancestor (usually a great grandfather or great-great grandfather). This is recalled in the coats of arms of representatives of the many clans and septs descended from the Uí Néill royal dynasty, many of which feature the Red Hand (see provincial Flag of Ulster). The joints in the fingers, the fingernails, and the hand itself, represented the four/five generations that qualified for inclusion within the Derbfhine. This meant that the group itself became highly exclusive, keeping the kingship within the dynasty and not the wider clan, many of whom were reduced to mere gentry or even peasant status (though they might too share the surname).
The downside of this was that proliferation of roydammna in each generation might lead to internice dynasty civil war. Such was the case among the descendants of King and High KingTairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (1088-1156). His dynasty, the Sil Muirdeag (who took the surname hUa Conchobhair/O'Connor), had successfully ruled as Kings of Connacht since at least the mid-5th century. Their increasing consolidation of their position - via the annexation of the Kingdoms of Mide and Dublin, plus subborning neighbouring states and lordships to vassalage - paved the way for Tairrdelbach to become the first of his dynasty to become High King.
However competation between Tairrdelbach's many sons induced corrosive warfare between at least four competing main lines, in addition to allied lordships and kingdoms striving for the main chance. This, coupled with the incursions of the Normans from 1169 onwards (especially the machinations of the de Burgh lords of Clanricarde - fragmented O Conchobhar rule till by the early 1500's they were reduced to ruleing a fraction of their former patrimoney.
Another example of Derbfhine or Roydammna proliferation comes from the Annals of Connacht. It states that at the Second Battle of Athenry in August 1316, in addition to King Tadc O Cellaig of Hy-Many, "there fell with him ... twenty-eight men who were entitled to succeed to the kingship of Ui Maine."
Further Points
This system often lead to rotation between most prominent branches of the clan or the reigning house, particularly in the Middle Ages when an average lifespan was usually shorter than required for one's children grow up into adults. Tanistry, though not intended basically to be such, was perceived to be synonymous with balance between branches of family. A most publicized case was when the Bruce candidate to inherit the crown of Scotland in 1296 pleaded, among other grounds, the traditional tanistry in his favor. He was primogeniturally seen from a cadet branch of the old royal descent, and thus primogeniture would not have favored him, but idea of rotation (and his seniority in physical age) made him a credible competitor. (Although the judicial resolution of that quarrel went in favor of the Balliols on basis of primogeniture, the subsequent political events reverted that result, and Robert the Bruce, the grandson of the candidate who pleaded tanistry, ascended the throne despite of the fact of representing a rather junior cadet line of the original Royal House - all future monarchs of Scotland then were succeeding on basis of rights of the Bruce.)
Tanistry as the system of succession left the headship open to the ambitious, and was a frequent source of strife both in families and between the clans, but was conversely quasi-democratic. Tanistry was abolished by a legal decision in the reign of James VI and the English land system substituted.
The rules of succession of the dynasty of Alpin of kings of Scotland, and their successors, abided the tanistry rules until at least 1034, were used in certain successions in 1090's, and were pleaded as a part of succession litigation as late as in 1290's.
Current Political Uses
The word is preserved in the government of the Republic of Ireland, where the prime minister is the Taoiseach while the deputy prime minister is the Tánaiste.
Uses in Literature and Neo-Paganism
The concept of the tanist or substitute for the sacred king was taken by Sir James Frazer and incorporated as a central element in his study of European mythologies, The Golden Bough. Through Frazer the figure of the tanist has appeared in modernist poetry, such as T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and has influenced Robert Graves' interpretation of The Greek Myths (1955) and The White Goddess. Tanist figures appear in much popular neo-paganism.
See Also
- http://www.heraldry.ws/ particularly arms of Ui Neill clans, and O'Neill septs
- High King of Ireland
- Kingdoms of ancient Ireland
Reference
- "Irish Kings and High Kings", Francis John Bryne, Dublin, 1973.
This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
