Margaret Mikulska <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>"Droit du seigneur" didn't exist - it was an 18th-century notion,
>symbolizing the power of aristocrats.

Scholars are of two minds about this and the problem remains controversial.
But from my readings, the weight of evidence comes down in favor of the
existence of the ius-- though probably only very early on, and then only
in parts of France,Italy, and possibly Germany..  Taxes to avoid of the
ius primae noctis did exist under a varied nomenclature.  There is a
Decree by the Seneschal of Guyenne,1302, that imposes it.  Ever since,
it has been an item of louche discussion, including by the philosophes.
Anyway, Da Ponte wrote as if it existed, and that is what counts.  So,
Opernrergisseure, hands off!!!!!!!!

Denis Fodor