The Statute of Bigamy (''Statutum de Bigamis'', 4 Edw. I) was an English law passed in 1276. It encompassed six chapters on a variety of subjects, but took its name from the fifth chapter, which removed

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

from men found to have committed

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

by an ecclesiastical court. The legislation was passed in the fourth year of the reign of Edward I. The statute was an adoption of the

council of Lyon The Council of Lyon may refer to a number of synods or councils of the Roman Catholic Church, held in Lyon, France or in nearby Anse. Previous to 1313, a certain Abbé Martin counted twenty-eight synods or councils held at Lyons or at Anse. Some ...

decision of ''omni priviligio clericali nudati et coercioni fori secularis addicti'' during 1274. The stratatum treated the misdemeanor as an act of capital crime. At the time of the law having been brought into force, clergy considering bigamous occurrences already within their number were desiring that punishment be decided via the common law in order that those persons be treated less severely,

Pope Gregory X Pope Gregory X ( la, Gregorius X; – 10 January 1276), born Teobaldo Visconti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1271 to his death and was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. He was ...

decreed otherwise. By the time of the son of king Henry the VIII in the 16th century, the king of England by statute had had the prospective clerical impediment issue revoked.

Sir William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the '' Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

books.google.co.uk
Commentaries on the laws of England , Volume 4 etrieved 2011-12-24/ref>

References

{{Reflist

External links

Donald J. Kise
(the New York Public Library)books.google.co.uk
''Corpus juris: being a complete and systematic statement of the whole body of the law as embodied in and developed by all reported decisions Volume 7'', American Law Book Co., 1916 Medieval English law 1276 in England 1270s in law Christianity in medieval England