-Caveat Lector- http://www.fibri.de/jus/westerma.htm [Abstract] Updating Edward Westermarck: The "right of the first night" in the evolutionary biology perspective. Jörg Wettlaufer, Kiel The cultural phenomenon of the right of the first night or jus primae noctis is very closely related to the work of Edward Westermarck. His concern with this custom has its origin in the discussion on Johann Jakob Bachofens promiscuity hypothesis (1861) and the original state and development of human sexual relations. Although E. Westermarck was right in refusing the promiscuity hypothesis, his interpretation of the right of the first night underestimates the difference between the alleged right (the medieval jus primae noctis) and the ritual duty as represented in the ethnographic accounts on ritual defloration. For an updated view of these cultural phenomena the jus primae noctis has to be investigated individually in Eurasian literature, customary law texts from late medieval Europe and in ethnographic accounts. The right of the first night seems to be a very old topos in Eurasian cultures. The first explicit evidence can already be found in the Gilgamesch-Epic (about 1900 BC) and in classical Greek and Latin writers. Although it was often used to characterise tyrannical rulers, there is also evidence from early Irish traditional epic that it was used to describe powerful men or heroes. In the later middle ages, the topos in literature became related to tyrannical lords who claimed the first night unless the bride paid them a major part of her dowry. We have good reason to assume that the relation between European marriage payments of unfree people and the topos of the right of the first night goes back to the early medieval period and has its origin in Germanic marriage customs. In the light of this thesis the historical evidence of the right of the first night in late medieval customary law texts seems to stem from a very old oral tradition which was misinterpreted in the 15th. and 16th. century for example in Switzerland, France and Catalonia. In customal texts from these regions, the jus primae noctis is closely related to specific marriage payments. We can also learn from these texts that in the late medieval period, a time of disappearing status differences, the lords used the jus primae noctis as a sign of superiority against their dependent peasants. Sometimes the right was performed with symbolic gestures; the lord could put a leg into the bride's bed (droit de cuissage / France), or he could climb on the bed and pass over her (Catalonia). In this respect the jus primae noctis in the later middle ages was "real", even though there is not a single proven case of actual sexual relations between bride and lord in the name of this "right". The ethnographic evidence of ritual defloration is quite different from the Eurasian topos. Medieval and early modern travel accounts for India and South America relate prenuptial deflorations by the mother, an idol, a chief, a priest or a stranger to "open" the bride for the first sexual intercourse with her bridegroom. Very often this defloration ritual was connected to superstition and hymeneal blood fear. Therefore, the defloration was regarded as a dangerous duty rather than a privilege or a right. Although reliable ethnographic information about sexual customs in general are difficult to obtain, the apparently independent related instances from different ethnographers seem to indicate that the custom prevailed at least up to the nineteenth century in several non-European cultures. Today it is probably extinct. Beside these differences there is an interesting common trait between the ethnographic evidence and the topic in Eurasian literature: the duty was very often performed by persons of high status, a chief or a priest, who were thought to be well protected against the danger of hymeneal blood. Taking into account modern evolutionary psychology theory we can understand better why men of high status seem to be the ones to perform the custom in both cases. Status is one crucial factor for the reproductive prospects of primate men. In general high status allows men more matings and it can therefore help to increase mating success. Demonstration of rank and status is common in human societies and appears to be an adapted psychological mechanism. In this context the topos of the "right of the first night" seems to be a metaphorical description of the relation between status and mating success. A man who claims to have the jus primae noctis demonstrates his power through a privileged access to young women who are about to marry and to enter the reproductive phase of their lives. Due to recent research in evolutionary biology we know today that power and polygynie is in fact closely related in many cultures. In this respect the topos of the despotic right of the first night may reflect very old Eurasian knowledge about this relation between power and sexuality. On the other hand Edward Westermarck was right in pointig out that the preference of priests and chiefs to perform the duty of ritual defloration may not stem from unselfish motives alone. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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