Matilda, primogeniture, and female inheritance

Edward I's decision was striking because England's best-known female succession precedent was Matilda and the Anarchy. Henry I had required his barons to recognize Matilda, but Stephen seized the throne during her absence and the ensuing struggle became a warning attached to female succession. Daughters still inherited ordinary property when no sons survived, dividing an estate equally as co-heirs. Edward departed from that practice by proposing that one daughter inherit England and Ireland intact rather than partitioning the kingdom among four sisters.