Primae Noctis

[joel]

This is a myth popularized by Braveheart. When a serf got married, supposedly the lord had the right to have sex with his bride first. Of course it has no basis in fact and isn't even mentioned in most college medieval classes.

So what bothers me is that today in my class on Russian history, my PROFESSOR was talking about the abuses of serfdom and said that lords had the first sexual rights to peasant brides...

[noons]

Well, two things.

First, the development of Russia is very different from the rest of Europe.

Second, while there may not have been an actual right, written or unwritten, there are always abuses of power. If a nobleman manages to get a peasant girl alone and propositions to her, she can only imagine the consequences of refusal.