What does to 'settle the succession of the crown' mean?

Question

Apparently that is what the English Declaration of Independence did. What does this mean though?

Answer 1

These are the laws that say who can inherit the throne.Succession says who will inherit the throne when the current monarch dies.Generally,the eldest son is first in line,followed by younger sons,then daughter,brothers,sisters.....

In the UK,there is an added requirement-the heir must be Church of England/Protestant.

From http://www.royal.gov/uk/ouput/Page5655.a...

Buckingham Palace's site;

"The order of succession is the sequence of members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne.

The basis for the succession was determined in the constitutional developments of the seventeenth century, which culminated in the Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Settlement (1701).

When James II fled the country in 1688, Parliament held that he had 'abdicated the government' and that the throne was vacant. The throne was then offered, not to James's young son, but to his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, as joint rulers.

It therefore came to be established not only that the Sovereign rules through Parliament, but that the succession to the throne can be regulated by Parliament, and that a Sovereign can be deprived of his title through misgovernment.

The succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by statute; the Act of Settlement confirmed that it was for Parliament to determine the title to the throne.

The Act laid down that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia - the Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I - are eligible to succeed. Subsequent Acts have confirmed this.

Parliament, under the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, also laid down various conditions which the Sovereign must meet. A Roman Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne; nor may the Sovereign marry a Roman Catholic.

The Sovereign must, in addition, be in communion with the Church of England and must swear to preserve the established Church of England and the established Church of Scotland. The Sovereign must also promise to uphold the Protestant succession."

Answer 2

Every royal house has an order of succession system, which is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant. In hereditary monarchies the order of succession is followed in order to determine who becomes the new monarch when the old monarch dies or vacates the throne.

Such orders of succession generally specify which descendant of the previous monarch, or in default of a direct heir, which sibling or collateral of the previous monarch, will assume the throne. Generally, the line of succession is restricted to persons of the blood royal, that is to those born into or descended from the present royal family or a previous sovereign.

More specifically, the line of succession to the British Throne is a list of the people in line to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom. The succession is regulated by the Act of Settlement 1701, which limits it to the heirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, as determined by male-preference primogeniture, religion, and legitimate birth.

Answer 3

It sets the rules for who will be the next King or Queen (i.e., oldest son goes first...)