I was asked the question "Which of what you know about the Middle Ages, would you prefer to forget?". Probably the first thing that comes to mind as an answer is the right of the first night. I then thought about this phenomenon, but did not speak, since it is difficult to say briefly about the myth, but here for the most part a well-established horror story about the gloomy Middle Ages, which is used to frighten impressionable girls.

The picture is off topic. Lucas Cranach the Elder. Unequal couple. 1532. National Museum of Sweden, Stockholm. Museum color reproduction / The Ill-matched Couple. Lucas Cranach d.a. (German, born 1472, dead 1553). Olja på trä. 108 x 119 cm. Frame: 135 x 146 x 8 cm. Dating sign. 1532. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. , via .

The well-known right is the right of the first night - primae noctis - the right of the lord before the wedding night to demand the bride of his peasant and even any of his vassals. The custom, in the modern view, is completely wild, but it was not carried out as often as they say about it within the framework of the "black legend of the Middle Ages". Some scientists even argued that it did not exist at all. However, it is doubtful that laws prohibiting the application of custom appeared from scratch. In any case, the very theoretical possibility of using such a custom does not bring joy.

Historian, specialist in medieval legal issues Alexander Marey in the material on "PostNauka" talks about how "in fact" in the Middle Ages the situation was with first night:

The right of the wedding night- "This is more a myth than a reality. It was not so common and far from everywhere. It complained, as a rule, to the supreme lord, that is, the king, as an additional privilege. So that he would not be so sad because we give him an estate so far from us, we will give him the right of the first night.

2.

An off-topic picture: a rich old man and a young courtesan. Lucas Cranach the Elder "The Unequal Pair". Around 1530. Kunstpalast Museum, Düsseldorf / Lucas Cranach the Elder(1472–1553). An ill-matched pair. Circa 1530. Oil on beech wood. 38.7 × 25.7 cm. Museum Kunstpalast. Google Cultural Institute. via

The model relationship is also clear here. The fief, which is issued to the vassal, is not land, it is the right to collect income from the land. But at the same time, people living on this earth are free people.

The culture of freedom has been preserved since Roman law and passes through the entire history of the Middle Ages, eventually coming out into the New Age. And therefore, when the seigneur demands the right of the first night, he thus seems to declare: all of you living on earth are my property. And here lies this disagreement: people are not property, and they understand this very well. They see themselves as free people. And this is where the contradiction comes in. That is, the lords who abused this right were killed by the rebels. "[*]

If you look at the ritual side of the issue, then wedding and funeral rites are in many ways similar: the girl dies and is reborn in a new capacity as a wife.

Maybe once, in ancient times, the deprivation of the virginity of the bride not by the groom, but by the master was in the original sense something like initiation during the wedding ritual and taking the woman under protection? These actions could be performed not really, but ritually and symbolically. I did not study the question, this is my hypothesis, which needs to be tested.

[*] Full conversation, quote source: “PostNauka” – talks “If the university had not been born in Europe in the 11th-12th centuries, the concept of “common law” would never have existed” . Interview with historian Alexander Marey. Ivar Maksutov. 08.08.2014

What's happened right of the first night? This ancient custom, which provides for sexual contact of the bride not with her husband, but with another man. This could be the leader of the tribe, the landowner, the feudal lord, or some other person on whom the newlyweds depended. This dependence was expressed in different ways. Serfdom, debt obligations, religious principles, an ancient tradition strictly observed.

For modern man this action is a rather humiliating and unpleasant fact at the very beginning family life. But in ancient times, people looked at such things differently. A village girl already from an early age knew that it would not be her future husband who would deprive her of her virginity, but, say, an earl living in a large and beautiful castle, standing on a hill near the village.

At the same time, the grandmother and mother of the child were also subjected to a similar procedure at one time, so the young creature did not see anything shameful and terrible in this. The girl was even flattered by the thought that she would spend the whole night with a gentleman of noble blood. If, moreover, she is obedient and manages to please, then it is very possible that she will be given some kind of gift.

As for the groom who voluntarily gives the bride to another man, here again one must understand the mentality of people who lived at that distant time. If a person was born a peasant, then he died a peasant. And if a person was born a nobleman, then he died a nobleman.

There was an abyss between different social groups or classes. The representatives of the lower class did not at all consider themselves equal to the representatives of the upper class. The peasants looked at the noble lords with sincere reverence and servility. Therefore, the groom considered it an honor to give his bride to an important gentleman of noble blood. He would be horrified if, say, the count renounced his right. It would be a terrible shame for both the young husband and his wife.

In democratic times, there was no such custom. He was not known in Ancient Greece And Ancient Rome, since in these states there was no strict distinction between social groups. Any soldier could become an emperor, and an ordinary city dweller a philosopher. The same was observed in Kievan Rus. Veche was practiced in many cities, and common people appointed princes or deposed them. Therefore, reverence and respect were earned not by origin, but by specific deeds.

But in Western Europe the picture was quite different. The feudal lords who lived in their castles had unlimited power over the peasants. Each such duke or earl had his own armed detachment, and any disobedience was punished in the most severe way. The knights even often ignored the power of the king, to say nothing about the attitude towards commoners. Peasants were as much property as cows or sheep. There was no talk of any sense of self-worth.

When did the right of the first night appear in European lands? It is difficult to name a specific date and even a century. Everything is lost in the endless succession of years and centuries. But this custom ended around the 17th century. In Switzerland, he ordered to live long at the beginning of the 16th century, in Germany 100 years later. In France, he was forgotten in the middle of the 15th century. A little later, this ceased to be practiced in England.

Much also depended on the nobles themselves. Enlightened and smart people they themselves abandoned the shameful practice, and the ignorant and voluptuous with pleasure were engaged in this business, while in defense ordinary people legislation did not come into being.

The origins of the emergence of custom are sought, as a rule, in the tribal and communal system. It was a time when people lived in tribes, and a woman was not the property of an individual man, but of the whole community. Then the institution of marriage began to develop, but some ancient traditions remained. They were the reason for the right to the first night the mighty of the world this.

This practice prevailed among the Germanic tribes. They conquered Rome, settled on the lands of the empire, but significantly lagged behind the local residents in their social and moral development. Having adopted everything advanced and new from them, they at the same time retained their primitive customs, which have changed little over the next 1000 years.

As for other parts of the planet, the right of the first night was practiced by the peoples of Africa and South America. But the Africans were not likened to the swaggering feudal lords of Medieval Europe. It was not the leader of the tribe who deprived the bride of her virginity, but the most respected guests at the wedding. However, there could be several of them. They all had sexual intercourse with a girl.

But it does not mean at all that there was a full-fledged sexual intercourse, as it appears in our time. The guests simply "entered the bride and left." It was a ritual rite associated with ancient customs and traditions about which we know nothing.

pleura And menstrual cycle always seemed to people as something mystical, connected with higher divine powers. Therefore, suitors, due to their inexperience, were not trusted with such important question like deprivation of virginity. This duty was undertaken by experienced men who knew how to properly and painlessly deprive a woman of innocence.

Therefore, group intercourse at weddings can be seen as friendly participation and paternal care for young people. The groom had practically nothing to lose. Over the years, he gained experience and then he himself took part in such rites. There was no humiliation, no desecration of honor. Everything was done in front of everyone and caused only a feeling of deep satisfaction and respect.

Africans and Indians treated sexual life as a natural physiological process. They never limited themselves in bodily joys and were not embarrassed by the presence of other people. But the Europeans perceived the process of intercourse quite differently.

The Catholic Church has always preached temperance and restraint. The priests took a vow of celibacy, and the rest of the citizens considered intimate life as a necessary, but sinful part human life. Without sexual intercourse, it is impossible to conceive a child, so the spouses, having done the main thing, stopped all sexual contacts until the need arose for the next baby.

Back in the 19th century, this practice was considered the norm. True Catholics have always been ascetics and adhered to strict morals. As for Orthodoxy, there were more liberties. Even common baths were practiced, in which both men and women washed together. But this does not at all indicate sexual promiscuity, but simply speaks of a certain mentality of our ancestors.

Keeping your passions in check was considered the highest manifestation of fortitude. Those who threw themselves at every skirt were not respected, as they were perceived by those around them as spiritually miserable and weak-willed.

The right of the first night was not at all a sign of degradation and immorality. It was an ancient custom, and people treated it with respect and understanding. Another thing is that already in later times, some landowners in the same serf Russia, using their power, persuaded young peasant women to cohabit.

But this had nothing to do with the ancient custom. Rather, one can see a connection with the current times, when bosses sexually harass their employees. They threaten to fire you if you refuse. Some ladies themselves are not averse to entering into intimate relationships with management in order to ensure a trouble-free existence. So every time has its own concepts of morality and ethical standards.

At that time in Europe there was a custom called "the right of the first night." Its essence - the feudal lord had the right to deprive of innocence any girl from his possessions who got married. That is why, after marriage, the bride spent her wedding night not with her newly-made husband, but with a feudal lord. If he did not like the bride, he had the right to refuse the first night, or sell this right to the groom. In some countries this tradition continued until late XIX century.

How did this tradition come about? According to one of the hypotheses, in this way, the feudal lord confirmed his right to property.

According to another version, the master took on this “difficult” role so that the wife would go to the “proven” husband. Some historians see elements of sacrifice in this tradition (virginity was sacrificed to a deity, while the role of a deity in some countries was played by a priest).

Some peoples believed that the blood that appears when deflowering brings evil and disease. Therefore, the ritual was entrusted to the elder of the tribe or the sorcerer - that is, a strong man, able to resist the machinations of evil spells. And only after this rite of "purification" was the newlywed given to the groom.

In the Scandinavian pagan cults there was such a custom. With the onset of darkness before the wedding night, the priest of the god of fertility Freyr took the bride (of course, someone else's) into the forest, lit a fire and sacrificed a pig. After that, he performed the ritual, and then brought the bride to the groom. It was believed that after this mystery, a woman would be able to give birth to many healthy sons.

In some tribes in Africa and South America, the act of deprivation of innocence was even performed by women (healers or the spouses of the leader of the tribe).

Celebration of the first wedding night

A very interesting tradition existed in Scotland - where friends and relatives prevented the newlyweds from spending their wedding night by all available means. Immediately they did not allow the young to retire, and if they succeeded, they made noise and shouted, preventing them from enjoying each other. They could feel all the charms of the wedding night only when the guests got tired of the fun and fell asleep.

In Greece, a child must run around the marriage bed in order for healthy children to be born in the family in the future.

In Germany and France, friends and relatives acted in the same way as in Scotland - they made noise under the windows, laid out alarm clocks in the room.
In the Philippines, newlyweds were completely forbidden to have sex on their wedding night, and this is due to the fact that a child conceived on the wedding day, through alcohol consumption by future parents, could be born sick.

The Chinese tradition of holding the first night is different from the European one, as here great importance gave beauty to the premises where such an important event was to take place. The room was decorated with flowers, red and yellow candles in the form of dragons, the main purpose of which is the expulsion of evil spirits from the newlyweds. Before entering this room, the young people had to drink wine from glasses that were tied together with a red ribbon.

The most exotic traditions existed in Africa. There, in some tribes, after the wedding, the husband knocked out his wife's two front teeth on the wedding night. Thus, the husband informed his fellow tribesmen that this girl was married.

At that time in Europe there was a custom called "the right of the first night." Its essence - the feudal lord had the right to deprive of innocence any girl from his possessions who got married. That is why, after marriage, the bride spent her wedding night not with her newly-made husband, but with a feudal lord. If he did not like the bride, he had the right to refuse the first night, or sell this right to the groom. In some countries, this tradition continued until the end of the 19th century.

How did this tradition come about? According to one of the hypotheses, in this way, the feudal lord confirmed his right to property.

According to another version, the master took on this “difficult” role so that the wife would go to the “proven” husband. Some historians see elements of sacrifice in this tradition (virginity was sacrificed to a deity, while the role of a deity in some countries was played by a priest).

Some peoples believed that the blood that appears when deflowering brings evil and disease. Therefore, the ritual was entrusted to the elder of the tribe or the sorcerer - that is, a strong man, able to resist the machinations of evil spells. And only after this rite of "purification" was the newlywed given to the groom.

In the traditions of some countries, including Russia, the newly-made husband did not always have, it would seem, the legal right to be the first to share the bed with his betrothed. And most often an intimate relationship with a strange man for the bride was far from voluntary.

Convenient custom

The right of the first night is a phenomenon, for obvious reasons, not enshrined in any legislative acts that existed in tribal cultures or countries with a high level of social inequality. Even Friedrich Engels noted that in the traditions of some nations, the groom was the last person who could claim his bride on their wedding night. Before him, his betrothed could take advantage of brothers, distant relatives and even friends. In the tribes of Africa and South America, shamans or leaders had the primary right to a bride, which was explained by the need to protect the young couple from evil spirits. In medieval France, "Ius primae noctis" was a kind of privilege of the feudal lord, who could easily afford intimate relationship with the wife of his vassal. According to historians, such a privilege may have arisen from the German Beilager custom, according to which large landowners had the first right to have sexual contact with the bride of any of their subjects. In some cases, the vassal could pay compensation to his feudal lord, and then he waived the right to use his wife. Scientists rightly refer to the lack of documents confirming the right of the first night in Medieval Europe, however, indirect evidence is still available. For example, the surviving decision of the arbitration court in the Spanish Gudalup of 1486, which states that King Ferdinand II from now on prohibits gentlemen from enjoying the privilege of spending the night with the bride of a vassal, proves that such a right was nevertheless registered somewhere. It is curious that the right of the first night, demonstrating the arbitrariness of the feudal lords, in some cases could be beneficial to the bride. Not all girls kept virginity before marriage, which was considered almost a prerequisite for marriage. A night spent with the master relieved the bride of worries about prematurely lost innocence.

A revived tradition

According to ethnographers, the right of the first night is a custom that is very common in pagan Slavic culture. Sexual contact with the bride could have a more skilled in love affairs member of the tribal group. The purpose of the custom is to save the young from a traumatic experience. Often the father of the future husband could use the right of the first night. The bride was also kidnapped by the groom's friends. According to Vasily Tatishchev, the custom of giving the bride to the elder of the community or village was forbidden by Princess Olga and replaced by a ransom. In a transformed form, the right of the first night was preserved in Christian Rus'. For example, in some villages at a wedding, each invited man had to snuggle up to the young woman several times, imitating sexual intercourse: this allegedly allowed the bride to mentally prepare for the wedding night. In remote Ukrainian villages, until recently, the custom was widespread, according to which the groom had to provide evidence of the deprivation of innocence of his betrothed. In case of failure, he was given two more chances. If they were not successful, then his place should have been taken by an older relative or the most experienced of the wedding guests, a man. In the middle of the 18th century, with the strengthening of serfdom in Russia, the right of the first night received a new impetus. This most difficult time for the peasantry, which gave birth to the “saltychi”, practically did not give hope to the serfs to resist the arbitrariness of the landowners. Although Russian laws made it possible to protect peasants from the abuses of soul owners, in reality the all-powerful nobility was rarely brought to justice, using money and connections. Russian writer and public figure Prince Alexander Vasilchikov, the owner of the exemplary Trubetchino estate, in his book “Land ownership and agriculture in Russia and other European states” cites many facts of violence, including sexual, by landlords over serfs, when innocent peasant girls for many years were corrupted with impunity to satisfy desires of his master.

Arbitrariness in Russian

Unfortunately, in Russia, not all landowners, like Alexander Vasilchikov, cared about their subjects. Usually, the farther from the capital, the more cases of abuse of position and power were recorded. Boris Tarasov in the book “Fortified Russia. The history of national slavery ”reports that if petty nobles were subjected to violence by a more influential neighbor, then peasant girls were completely defenseless before him. Compulsion to debauchery, according to Tarasov, was akin to a separate duty - a kind of "corvée for women." Historian Vasily Semevsky writes that some landowners, who spent most of their time abroad, came to their homeland with the sole purpose of satisfying their lust. By the arrival of the master, the manager of the estate had to prepare a list of all the grown-up peasant girls, each of which fell into the hands of the owner for a couple of nights. When the list ended, the landowner went to another village. The Russian publicist, a native of a wealthy noble family, Alexander Koshelev, described this shameful phenomenon using the example of his neighbor, the young landowner S. This gentleman, a passionate hunter for “fresh girls”, did not allow a peasant wedding to take place until he experienced the dignity of the bride. Once, the parents of one of the marriageable girls did not obey the willfulness of the owner, writes Koshelev. And then the landowner ordered to bring the whole family to the house, chained the mother and father to the wall and forced them to contemplate how he raped his daughter. This case was discussed by the whole county, but the young libertine with influence got away with everything. However, it happened that the authorities still punished the unbelted gentleman. So, in 1855, the court ordered the Privy Councilor Kshadovsky to pay a fine to the victim for using the right of the first night. Only after the abolition of serfdom, the tradition of corruption of peasant brides in Russia began to wane.