Logiken der Bigamie

Abstract For the Christian understanding of marriage, it was constitutive that marriage could be concluded only between one man and one woman. A perspective directed towards bigamy makes it clear that this normative matrix has been called into question not only on a discursive level, but also in practice. Based on bigamy proceedings in early modern Vienna and Lower Austria, the article enquires into the social logics of the couples as well as how the authorities dealt with dual marriages. Serial bigamy resulted mainly from the concept of the indissolubility of marriage as well as from the difficulty of proving the death of the rightful spouse. Three different settings provide insights into different attitudes found in both the religious and secular courts: first, the ecclesiastical handling of bigamous couples in a short period of tolerance in the 1560s and 1570s; second, claims for annulment of marriage or the resumption of legal marriage in the 17th and 18th centuries; and third, a dramatic bigamy trial that was heard in various instances of secular jurisdiction in the 1620s.