Right of the First Night

In the movie Braveheart there are many references to actual historical events. Although some of William Wallace's triumphs are historically debatable, the legislative his motivation is stirred from is recorded as customary throughout Medieval Europe . In Braveheart William Wallace refuses the imposed law of jus primae noctis, or "law (or right) of the first night", which would give an English lord jurisdiction to deflower his bride on their wedding night. While marrying in secrecy to bypass the law seems like a good idea to Wallace at the time, it still doesn't keep his bride away from the sexually aggressive attitudes of the English. This act reflects the ideology of the strictly enforced social hierarchy of the time, which reigned god, king, lord, knight, etc. throughout Europe. Jus primae noctis is viewed as a continuation of this distinction by its reflection as as another "power display with a basis in the psychology of coercive social dominance, male competition, and male desire for sexual variety." In reference to Braveheart, this masculine power display becomes what incites Wallace's fight for love and freedom.