Hannah, at the beginning of the narrative, is barren and childless, like Abraham's wife Sarah.

In the biblical narrative, Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah ; the other, Peninnah, who bore children to Elkanah, but Hannah remained childless.

Muslim literature narrates that Amram ( Imran in Arabic ) and Anne ( Hannah in Arabic ) were old and childless and that, one day, the sight of a bird in a tree feeding her young aroused Anne's desire for a child.

A special sacredness appertains to the vows of lovers exchanged beneath the Bonnington oak, and its leaves, gathered with a certain formula at a certain time of night, are still sought by childless women and made into a medicinal draught, with the same intention as in Druidical days.

On the death of the childless tsar, he was the popular candidate for the vacant throne ; but he acquiesced in the election of Boris Godunov, and shared the disgrace of his too-powerful family three years later, when Boris compelled both him and his wife, Xenia Shestova, to take monastic vows under the names of Filaret and Martha respectively.

The Hebrew Bible forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow with the exception that, if his brother died childless, the man is instead required to marry his brother's widow so as to " raise up seed to him " ( taken from Deuteronomy 25: 5 – 6 ).

It was, however, agreed that if one of the sisters died childless, the other one would succeed and the kingdoms would be reunited.

It was not long before the Pallantides ' hopes of succeeding the apparently childless Aegeus would be lost if they did not get rid of Theseus ( the Pallantides were the sons of Pallas and nephews of King Aegeus, who were then living at the royal court in the sanctuary of Delphic Apollo ).

Also, without an heir, the Tudor dynasty would end ; the risk of civil war between rival claimants was a possibility if Elizabeth died childless.

All other daughters had only a life interest in their dowry, which reverted to their family if childless or went to their children if they had any.

Mary also refused to grant Darnley the Crown Matrimonial, which would have made him the successor to the throne if Mary died childless.

Laius received an oracle from Delphi which told him that he must not have a child with his wife, or the child would kill him and marry her ; in another version, recorded by Aeschylus, Laius is warned that he can only save the city if he dies childless.

If Beatrice died childless, the crown would pass to other hypothetical younger sisters, and if not, the crown would pass to John I of Castile, and through him to his son Henry, thus disinheriting the line of Inês de Castro.

Lothair would also inherit their lands if they were to die childless.

During the annulment hearing, Henry VIII looked at the Hebrew version of Leviticus 20: 21, which states that it is unclean for a man to take his brother's wife and that, if a man did, the union would be childless.

Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden had lately died childless and King Frederick was old ; and negotiations were thus opened with the new Russian empress, Elizabeth of Russia, who agreed to restore the greater part of Finland if her cousin, Adolph Frederick of Holstein, were elected successor to the Swedish crown.

Depending on the rules of the monarchy the heir presumptive might be the daughter of a monarch ( if males take priority over females and the monarch has no sons ), or the senior member of a collateral line ( if the monarch is childless ); the birth of a legitimate child to the monarch will displace the former heir presumptive by a new heir apparent or heiress presumptive.

Jeanne would have been the maternal aunt of Boniface's last wife ; apparently, the marriage was childless or, if they had children, none survive to adulthood.

His last will directed that if his stepson should die childless ( which he did ), Huntington's Fifth Avenue mansion or the proceeds from the sale of the property would go to Yale University.

By the provisions of the marriage contract, their joint possessions and de Clare's extensive lands could only be inherited by a direct descendant, i. e. close to the Crown, and if the marriage proved childless, the lands would pass to any children Joan may have by further marriage.

( An inscription records that Physcon had bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome if he died childless, an act not mentioned by any literary source.

A levirate marriage might only occur if a man died childless, in order to continue his family line.

Shane's will provided that Hugo Eugenio be taught Irish, so he could be an effective leader of the O ' Neills ; it also provided an elaborate system of succession if Hugo Eugenio died childless, as did happen.

** Conn O ' Neill ( Con, Constantino, died before 1660 ), son of Cormac O ' Neill, the younger brother of Earl Hugh who died in the Tower of London, was named as second heir in Shane O ' Neill's will, if Hugo Eugenio died childless ; by the law of the Kingdom of Ireland, he would be the last heir to the Earldom, if restored.

This was advantageous for James Milligan, since, by the English law, he was to inherit all of his brother's fortune if he died childless.

( a ) If the parents were childless, they vowed to dedicate their first child if it happened to be girl.

However, Mary II died childless in 1694, after which William III did not remarry, and Princess Anne's last surviving child, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, died six years later, after which it was unlikely she would have any more children due to her age and the large number of miscarriages she had previously suffered.

Although they were childless, Potter played an important role in William ’ s large family, particularly enjoying her relationship with several nieces whom she helped educate and giving comfort and aid to her husband ’ s brothers and sisters.

Edward repudiated Edith and sent her to a nunnery, perhaps because she was childless, and Archbishop Robert urged her divorce.

The Lord Chancellor believes Iolanthe to have died childless, and she is bound not to " undeceive " him, under penalty of death.

Meanwhile, the marriage between Henry and Matilda remained childless, and Matilda's father was at the time unwilling to rest his hopes on his daughter providing an heir, assuming that she may be barren.

Apparently a very plain woman, she was overlooked in favour of her sister Zoe, who was selected as the potential bride, but Otto III died before she could be wed. From that point onwards, Theodora lived a life of virtual total obscurity in the imperial gynaeceum until circumstances ( her uncle Basil II dying childless and her dying father not siring any sons ) forced her into the centre of imperial politics.

Prior to the marriage, Anne renounced all succession rights she had had for herself and her descendants by Louis, with a provision that she would resume her rights should she be left a childless widow.

As the future royal couple remained childless, concerned by rumours of a possible repudiation of a queen she had in control, Diane made sure that Henry's visits to his wife's bedroom would be frequent.

However, when Wilhelmina was born, William had already outlived two of them and only the childless Prince Alexander and the King's uncle Prince Frederick of the Netherlands were alive, so under the Semi-Salic system of inheritance that was in place in the Netherlands until 1887, she was third in line to the throne from birth.

After their childless marriage, she only painted sporadically and spent most of her time supporting her husband's career, entertaining guests and students, and faithfully backing him in his difficult times with the Academy, even when some members of her family aligned against Eakins.

At least until 1724, the Queen expressed the hope that she would give birth to an heir, but the marriage was childless.

When he died childless before her she inherited his residuary collection.

They married in 926 and she died in 938, childless.

This occurred with the death of childless Queen Anne of the House of Stuart: she was succeeded by a prince of the House of Hanover who was her nearest Protestant relative.

He was married to Ingeborg Tott, niece by marriage of Magdalen of Sweden, in 1467 ; she was a renaissance personality interested in theology and science and seemed to have had some importance in the intellectual development during his reign, but the marriage remained childless.

Still a child, she came to England with the rest of her family when her father, Edward, was recalled in 1057 as a possible successor to her great-uncle, the childless Edward the Confessor.

The ceremony involves the taking off of a brother-in-law's shoe by the widow of a brother who has died childless, through which ceremony he is released from the obligation of marrying her, and she becomes free to marry whomever she desires ().

Margaret was sick and left the marriage childless when she was repudiated in 1261.

Later in their unhappy, childless marriage, she kept a revolver in her bedroom to prevent her husband's entry.