Besides the place of woman in the cult of the country, she had high position in the dynastic as well as domestic polity and customs of the land. Notwithstanding the number of concubines possessed by the Inca, there was but one legal queen, the _Coya_, whose eldest son inherited the crown,--at least so say most authorities, although there are some dissentients,--and it is stated by the Inca historian that the succession came down in unbroken line through the whole dynasty. The Coya was always a sister of the ruling Inca; but as to this custom there are also diverse statements, some authorities claiming that it was of comparatively modern innovation, while others assert that it was as ancient as the dynasty itself, which assertion there seems to be but little reason to doubt. The Coya received all due reverence from her people, noble and common; but she had no real authority, however great may have been her influence. The so-called _Loi Salique_ was in force among the Peruvians, even though they had never heard of the original heresy concerning the sceptre and distaff. They acknowledged no female rule; at the death of the Inca the sceptre passed to his eldest son by the Coya, provided that the heir-apparent had successfully passed through an ordeal of great severity, imposed upon him as the test of his fitness to bear the toil of ruling, while his investiture with that which answered to knighthood among the Christian cultures was imposing and wonderfully impressive in its significance.