Description
Book SynopsisThis book investigates the earliest known prosecutions of bigamy. In fifteenth-century Champagne, ordinary Christians valued marriage enough to risk criminal prosecution for illegal remarriage. Meanwhile, Church officials regarded bigamy as a grave threat to Christian identity and subjected male bigamists to harsh punishment.
Trade Review"This is an excellent book. McDougall makes a persuasive argument that understanding the prosecution of bigamy in fifteenth-century Troyes entails some fairly radical changes in how we see late medieval marriage and the place of Christianity in late medieval culture." * Shannon McSheffrey, Concordia University *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. Marriage and Remarriage in the Later Middle Ages: Law, Theology, and Culture
Chapter 2. Bigamous Husbands
Chapter 3. Abandoned Wives
Chapter 4. Why Commit Bigamy?
Chapter 5. Why Prosecute Bigamy?
Conclusion
Appendix. Selected Transcriptions from a Register of the Officiality of Troyes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
