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Bigamy
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A middle-aged man stands on a wooden porch with his elderly mother seated at left and five wives of various ages, one holding an infant, all dressed in modest 19th-century clothing.
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A middle-aged man stands on a wooden porch with his elderly mother seated at left and five wives of various ages, one holding an infant, all dressed in modest 19th-century clothing.
bigamy Portrait of a bigamous plural-marriage family, members of an offshoot branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bigamy

law
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•History

Bigamy, the unlawful contracting of a marriage by or with a person who is already married to another.

In earlier times bigamy was dealt with by ecclesiastical courts. After the Reformation, the English Parliament enacted statutes defining and punishing the offense, and similar steps were taken elsewhere. Such statutes vary in form and substance. Typically, they forbid marriage by or with any person “having a husband or wife living,” with specified exceptions for cases where the earlier marriage was invalid or was terminated by divorce or where the prior spouse has disappeared and is believed dead.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.