Jus Primae Noctis: Braveheart, Historical Accuracy, and Sexual Violence Anonymous College

The 1995 film Braveheart has been a hit largely because of the ways in which it makes an older world come alive. Taking place in an ancient Scotland, the film’s psychological realities are very different from the historical truths, although audiences in the 1990s loved the film regardless: it involves people in the 1990s acting as though they did in ancient Scotland. A particularly engaging example of why this film resonates with people even today is the fact that the film keeps sex at its center. Even though the ancient world was supposedly very sexually repressed, the doctrine of Primae Noctis is a very important part of the plot of Braveheart. In one disturbing scene, sexual violence is used as a major plot device to help establish the notion of primae noctisas an established part of Scottish / Anglo culture during the time of the film.

One particularly controversial aspect of the film, however, is its depiction of Primae Noctis. This offensive tradition, sometimes referred to as Jus Primae Noctis, is defined as “…the right of the local noble to deflower local peasant brides on their wedding night before their newlywed husbands. Precedence for this practice supposedly goes back for many thousands of years, with the first...