Who has the jus primae noctis - the Balkans in cross-temporal and cross-cultural comparison
Who has the jus primae noctis - the Balkans in cross-temporal and cross-cultural comparison

Summary/Abstract: The right of first night other than the groom with a bride has inspired the phantasy of scholars, especially in the 19th century. The debate whether this right was ever practiced or not lasted the whole 20th century. 1998 and 1999 two monographs on this topic were published – one which suggests that this right for feudal lords in some way existed and one that rejects this idea. Whereas this right in West and Central Europe supposedly was limited to feudal lords, it was allegedly also widespread among Slavic nations, but in the cultural context of strict patrilineality it was confined to the groom’s father.

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