The Lord's First Night: The Myth of the Droit de CuissageUniversity of Chicago Press, 1998 - 300 From the late Middle Ages to The Marriage of Figaro to Mel Gibson's Braveheart, the ultimate symbol of feudal barbarism has been the droit de cuissage, or right of a feudal lord to sleep with the bride of a vassal on her wedding night. The droit de cuissage even resurfaced in the debate over the French Penal Code of 1992 as a synonym for sexual harassment. But, as Alain Boureau elegantly demonstrates in this book, the droit de cuissage is a myth. Under contextual examination, nearly all the supposed evidence for this custom melts away—yet belief in it has survived for seven hundred years. Boureau shows how each era turned the mythical custom to its own ends. For instance, in the late Middle Ages, monarchists raised the specter of the droit de cuissage to rally public opinion against local lords, and partisans of the French Revolution pointed to it as proof of the corruption of the Ancien Régime. A fascinating case study of the folklore of sexuality, The Lord's First Night also offers evocative insights into popular (mis)conceptions of the Middle Ages. On the French edition: "A richly informative study of attitudes to the past and the manipulation of history down the ages."—Peter Linehan, Times Literary Supplement |
Spis treści
Remnants and Persistences | 7 |
The Droit de Cuissage | 67 |
The Body and the Land | 119 |
The Ecclesiastical Droit de Cuissage | 155 |
The Social Uses of Persiflage | 192 |
Epilogue | 225 |
A Literary Setting | 233 |
Chronological Bibliography of Works and Documents | 277 |
| 289 | |
Inne wydania - Wyświetl wszystko
Kluczowe wyrazy i wyrażenia
abuse Amiens Ancien Régime ancient archives Béarn bishop Bizanos Boece Book of Tobias Bordeaux bride canon Carpentier chapter chastity Christian Church Collin de Plancy corvée court Coutumes cullage culture custom Delpit dénombrement domination dossier Douzens droit de cuissage droit du seigneur Dupin ecclesiastical École des Chartes edition emancipation Evenus fabliaux feudal Fléchier fodero formariage français France French Grands Jours historians Ibid Jacques Jean Jules juridical jurists jus primae noctis king land lord Louis Louvie-Soubiron mainmorte marriage married medieval Mémoires mention merchet Middle Ages Montauban Moyen Âge myth of cuissage night Normandy nouvelles Parlement de Paris payment peasant personal dependency Pierre political priest published question Raepsaet ritual royal secular seems seigniorial seigniorial rights serfs Servin servitude sexual siècle sixteenth century social Société society Somloire tallage term thirteenth century tion tradition trans twelfth century vassals Veuillot village villein wedding women
Popularne fragmenty
Strona 284 - Études sur la condition de la classe agricole et l'état de l'agriculture en Normandie, au moyen âge.
Strona 285 - Rapport fait à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, au nom de la commission des antiquités de la France; par M. Lenormant. Lu dans la séance publique annuelle du 16 août 1850. Imp. de F. Didot, à Paris. 1850. In-4° de 4 f.
Strona 285 - Réponse d'un campagnard à un Parisien, ou Réfutation du livre de M. Veuillot sur le droit du seigneur; par Jules Delpit.