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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Ius Primae Noctis And Ius Primi Mane

We were talking about the ius primae noctis the other day, just to pass the time, I suppose. In case you have missed this mediaeval tidbit, this ius is a right which the lord of the manor claimed and it supposedly gave him the right to go to bed with any new wife on the manor on the first night of her marriage. Hence, the name right of the first night.

As time wore on, and wear it does when you are talking about such things as ius primae noctis, a veritable high speed sander wearing down the highs and lows of the woodwork of real conversation, talk took a buffoonish turn. The interesting ius, if such a ius primum inter iures pares were to exist, would be the ius primi mane, or the right of the first morning. This is the right to wake up from a lordly drunken stupor the next morning ( and it has to be a drunken revelry the night before, else, whence the expression "drunk as a lord"? ) and be set immediately to sobriety's rights by looking over at the lady snoring next to him.
I do not believe there was a latin word for coyote, so we have gone quite far enough with this. I do not know why I think its funny to mix learning and bar jokes. Perhaps I fancy myself to be Catullus.
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