Sometimes, however, the lord would go too far, and peasants would be forced to act. “…and when the wedding starts, the bridegroom shall allow the sergeant to lie with his bride for the first night, or he shall buy her off with 5 pounds and 4 pennies.” (Staatsarchiv des Kantons Zürich as cited in Wettlaufer, p. In 1543, a charter in a Swiss village outside of Zurich read: By the 16th century, evidence suggested a widespread belief in the existence of jus primae noctis, with many European lords using the notion to legitimize customs of sexual harassment. The idea of jus primae noctis would be maintained into the 14th century, when a French tale, called Baudouin de Sebourc mentioned it as a lord’s right if the bride couldn’t provide a sufficient dowry to his male serf. These are the remains of the famous Irish Clonmacnosie monastery built in the 6th century, where the first night rights claimed by the local Vikings were recorded. The Annals of Clonmacnosie in Ireland from the 8th century AD, for instance, record how the Vikings believed they were entitled to jus primae noctis with Christian brides. “The cheefe Gouvernour of them should have the bestowinge of any woman in the k’dom the first night after her marriage, so before her own husband should have carnal knowledge of her, to whom he pleased or keep her to himself by night, to satisfy his lust.” (Annals of Clonmacnosie as cited in Wettlauger, p. The Annals of Clonmacnosie in Ireland from the 8th century AD, for instance, recorded how the Vikings believed they were entitled to jus primae noctis with Christian brides: The tradition would purportedly continue into the early medieval age. In the Middle East, the Romans and Greeks, both occupiers at various times, were said to engage in the practice, according to the Talmud, an ancient Jewish text. Several centuries later, in 300 AD, this sexual entitlement privilege was attributed to Emperor Maximin. Next, during a slave revolt at Volsinii, an ancient Italian city, Valerius Maximus in 20 AD would note how free men were unable to marry a women who had not been deflowered by a slave first. The Greek scholar Herakleides Pontikos, writing in 400 BC, outlined the same benefits for the ruler of the Greek island of Kepahlonia. Before virgins were married, he chronicled how the king had the right to deflower them before their husbands could “have” them. In 450 BC, the same practice was reported by the Greek historian Herodotus in his Historiae, who wrote of a similar power dynamic in the society of the Adrymachidae, a Lybian tribe. This Ancient Egyptian Papyrus is the Oldest Known Account of Sexual Assault in the Workplace.Homosexuality in Ancient Greece - One Big Lie?.“He cohabits with the betrothed bride–He first, The husband afterwards.” (Epic of Gilgamesh as cited in Wettlaufer, p. The earliest textual reference can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, written in 1900 BC, where Gilgamesh, who was king of Uruk, enjoyed many privileges over his male subordinates and their newlyweds: Jus primae noctis is a phenomenon that has been documented throughout history, stretching back nearly 2,000 years. Ancient and Medieval References to jus primae noctis It is a topic that has been hotly discussed by anthropologists and historians, who have debated whether the jus primae noctis is a custom, a law, or a simply a sordid myth. Spanning centuries, this seedy exercise of male domination has been referenced across the eons, yet the reality of its existence remains unclear. The jus primae noctis, droit du seigneur, or “right of the first night,” is an alleged medieval custom which permitted lords to engage in sexual intercourse with the brides of their male subjects on the first night after marriage.
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