Martin's legitimate descendants, born of marriage with queen Maria, were already dead.
The claim first went to his own male legitimate descendants in the male line.
The succession devolves only upon legally legitimate descendants, born in Catholic marriages.
Napoleon on the other hand lacked legitimate descendants of his own.
There are no remaining legitimate descendants in male line from any other of Napoleon's brothers.
At his death, the title was not passed on, because of the lack of legitimate descendants.
The right to the arms passes from the original bearer to those of his legitimate direct descendants by a male line.
Currently, there are more than 5,000 legitimate descendants of Sophia, although not all are in the line of succession.
Potemkin had no legitimate descendants, though it is probable he had illegitimate issue.
Nobility was inherited equally by all legitimate descendants in the male line.