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...
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 cui...
