The Pragmatic Sanction

The term Pragmatic Sanction signifies a business arrangement which is generally acknowledged; but in history it is applied to settlements affecting national liberties, or the succession to the throne.

The Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III. of France, 1438, defined and limited the power of the Pope in France; that of St. Louis, 1268, forbade the Court of Rome to levy taxes, or collect subscriptions, in France, without the sanction of the king; that of Germany, 1439, secured the succession of the empire to the house of Austria.

In 1713 the Emperor Charles VI., having lost his son, named his daughter, Maria Theresa, as his heir, and published a decree making this appointment, which was out of the usual routine, and was therefore known as the Pragmatic Sanction; also, in 1759, Charles II. of Spain ceded the succession of Naples to his third son and his descendants, which is the last recorded Pragmatic Sanction.