39. April Fool’s Episode: Ferdinand II of Aragon Abolishes the Droit de Seigneur, Extremadura, Spain 1486
Boy oh boy, was the 19th century obsessed with imagining scenes of lords exercising their right to the bride on the night of her wedding! Obesessed, I tell you. Here, in an interpretation of the myth from 1872 by Jules Arsene Garnier, we have the reluctant bride, the obedient but mournful groom, the monks from some nearby abbey, come to enforce the rules, a bunch of overdressed nobles hanging out and watching the fun, the obligatory medieval beggar — is he actually asking the bride for a handout? cause I think that’s not happening — and the lord himself. Note the feather on the lord’s cap, which, unlike feathers of this sort usually, is standing up. Note also his shoes, the absolute worst example of an interpretation of medieval footwear that your hosts have ever seen. Anyway. You’ll be glad to know this never happened.
Everybody knows that the Droit de Seigneur (the right of a feudal lord to sleep with a bride on her wedding night) existed. Except it didn’t. Why, then, did Ferdinand II of Aragon abolish it in 1486? Why indeed. We discuss this. Also we discuss the history of the first night myth. And Michelle explains why you should buy books when you see them, instead of waiting till later.
2 thoughts on “39. April Fool’s Episode: Ferdinand II of Aragon Abolishes the Droit de Seigneur, Extremadura, Spain 1486”
This is a really interesting discussion. What I would add to this is that there is a possible antecedent that influenced Fernando El Católico’s inclusion of this “mal uso” in his Sentencia de Guadalupe. Sometime after 1255, Alfonso X included a sanction in his Fuero Real against nobles “dishonoring” new brides on their wedding day and imposes a monetary fine. In his Siete Partidas he includes a similar sanction against clergy if they fornicate with the new bride on the wedding day. Alfonso X is referred to as “the Wise” because of these juridical texts, and they literally formed the backbone of (or at least very heavily influenced) the Spanish legal system well into the 20th century. The importance of these documents may have led, in addition to the peasant revolts/complaints in Cataluña in the early reign of the Catholic Monarchs, to Fernando II de Aragón including a similar sanction. There is no evidence that this was an official thing people actually did, but people were talking enough about it by 1255 in Spain for Alfonso X to slap a fine on nobles for doing it (although it was up to the crown to decide whether it was actually rape or not, so it’s unlikely that anyone would actually ever end up paying the fine).
As a side note, there is a 21st century historical novel by a Catalan author called Cathedral of the Sea, about the construction of the Santa María del Mar church in Barcelona from 1329-1383. It is notable because it was primarily built and funded by the free people of Barcelona rather than by nobles. The early scenes of the novel reference a noble lord raping a bride on her wedding day and claiming it is ancient tradition – – not that the appearance of this trope is anything new in modern visions of the Middle Ages as you both rightly point out, but I did find it interesting because it is set in Cataluña, and that is where the peasants were complaining about this enough for Fernando to make it an official no no. The Catalán nobles WERE pretty awful at this time so it’s completely plausible.
Thank you so much! I’m glad to have that further background. The legend was so powerful, so early. (Michelle is going to be very glad about that historical novel, too.)
This is a really interesting discussion. What I would add to this is that there is a possible antecedent that influenced Fernando El Católico’s inclusion of this “mal uso” in his Sentencia de Guadalupe. Sometime after 1255, Alfonso X included a sanction in his Fuero Real against nobles “dishonoring” new brides on their wedding day and imposes a monetary fine. In his Siete Partidas he includes a similar sanction against clergy if they fornicate with the new bride on the wedding day. Alfonso X is referred to as “the Wise” because of these juridical texts, and they literally formed the backbone of (or at least very heavily influenced) the Spanish legal system well into the 20th century. The importance of these documents may have led, in addition to the peasant revolts/complaints in Cataluña in the early reign of the Catholic Monarchs, to Fernando II de Aragón including a similar sanction. There is no evidence that this was an official thing people actually did, but people were talking enough about it by 1255 in Spain for Alfonso X to slap a fine on nobles for doing it (although it was up to the crown to decide whether it was actually rape or not, so it’s unlikely that anyone would actually ever end up paying the fine).
As a side note, there is a 21st century historical novel by a Catalan author called Cathedral of the Sea, about the construction of the Santa María del Mar church in Barcelona from 1329-1383. It is notable because it was primarily built and funded by the free people of Barcelona rather than by nobles. The early scenes of the novel reference a noble lord raping a bride on her wedding day and claiming it is ancient tradition – – not that the appearance of this trope is anything new in modern visions of the Middle Ages as you both rightly point out, but I did find it interesting because it is set in Cataluña, and that is where the peasants were complaining about this enough for Fernando to make it an official no no. The Catalán nobles WERE pretty awful at this time so it’s completely plausible.
Thank you so much! I’m glad to have that further background. The legend was so powerful, so early. (Michelle is going to be very glad about that historical novel, too.)