LIGAMEN. - A diriment impediment that prevents the valid and lawful celebration of marriage by one who is bound by a previous valid marriage, even if unconsummated (can. 1069 § 1).
I. **Notion.** - Marriage is monogamous and thus excludes simultaneous polygamy, that is, the marriage of one man with several women, and simultaneous polyandry, that is, the union of one woman with several men. Unity, like indissolubility, is an essential property of Christian marriage and represents the union of Christ with the Church. It is perfect if neither spouse enters into a second marriage after the legitimate dissolution of the first bond, and imperfect if one of the spouses enters into a second marriage.
The unity of marriage is founded on natural law, and there is no evidence whatsoever that it was ever dispensed by the Lord before the Flood; indeed, the very creation of man and woman is proof to the contrary. After the Flood, polygamy was permitted for the multiplication of the chosen people and was also contemplated in Mosaic law; polyandry, however, was never permitted. Jesus Christ restored marriage to its original unity: "Whosoever shall put away his wife... and shall marry another, committeth adultery" (Mt. 19:9), as is also confirmed by St. Paul (1 Cor. 7:10-11).
The history of this impediment is closely linked to the history of the indissolubility (v.) of the bond. In the 12th century, a dispute arose between the schools of Paris and Bologna as to whether a merely ratified marriage was *perfectum* or merely *initiatum*, and whether it constituted an impediment of ligamen in the case of a subsequent consummated marriage. The theory that held that marriage was not perfect before consummation was condemned by Popes Alexander III and Innocent III.
During the Reformation, two equally erroneous extreme theories were advanced: Calvin claimed that even the patriarchs of the Old Testament were adulterers for having had multiple wives, while Luther argued that there was no explicit prohibition against polygamy and, with the favorable opinion of various Protestant theologians, granted Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the faculty to contract marriage with another woman while the first bond still existed.
This impediment is of natural and positive divine law and cannot be dispensed by the Supreme Pontiff.
II. IN CANON LAW. - For the existence of the impediment of ligamen, the validity of the previously contracted marriage is required, whether consummated or merely ratified, and the true and objective existence of the bond, since it has not been lawfully dissolved. Consequently, a marriage contracted under the erroneous belief that the previous bond had been dissolved by the death of one spouse is also invalid, even if the first marriage was merely ratified and the second was consummated. Conversely, a new marriage contracted by spouses ignorant of the dissolution of the previous bond is valid.
To contract a new bond, the nullity or dissolution of the previous bond is required. The latter, in the case of a consummated marriage, occurs with the death of a spouse or by virtue of the Pauline Privilege (v.) in the case of the marriage of non-believers where one converts; for a ratified marriage (v. MATRIMONY), it occurs with solemn religious profession or with a papal dispensation. The *Code of Canon Law* explicitly warns of the necessity to ascertain the nullity or dissolution of the previous bond: "Although the prior marriage be invalid or dissolved for any cause, it is not therefore lawful to contract another until the nullity or dissolution of the prior bond has been legitimately and certainly established" (can. 1069 § 2). Moral certainty of nullity is obtained through a double conforming sentence declaring invalidity, pronounced by ecclesiastical authority (can. 1987), except in cases of evident nullities, which can be proven according to can. 1990, for which a single sentence without the formalities of a process suffices. Decisions of civil courts or of schismatic or heretical authorities have no value in this regard. Proof of the dispensation of a ratified but unconsummated marriage and of the right to contract a new marriage by virtue of the Pauline Privilege must be furnished with authentic documents. For proof of dissolution by the death of a spouse, V. MORTE.
In the case of a new marriage celebrated in good or bad faith while the other spouse is alive or there is serious doubt about his or her death, the following considerations apply:
1) if the first spouse is still alive, the second marriage is invalid by divine law, even if the death had been declared by a judicial sentence or an authentic certificate. Consequently, if after the celebration in good or bad faith of a second marriage it is discovered that the first spouse is still alive, the pseudo-spouses must separate and the conjugal life of the previous bond must be restored, unless a just cause for separation exists; this also applies if the first marriage was merely ratified and the second was consummated;
2) if the spouses are in good faith regarding the dissolution of the previous bond, it is advisable not to influence their conviction of its validity until the continued existence of the first spouse has been definitively ascertained;
3) even if the second marriage was celebrated in good faith while the first spouse was alive, after the latter's death the second marriage does not become valid; rather, the consent must be renewed;
4) if the second marriage was celebrated in bad faith with the person with whom adultery was committed, in the event of the dissolution of the previous bond, the parties may contract a new marriage without a special dispensation from the impediment of crime (v. CHRISMON).
Cases concerning bigamy fall under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical judge, since the existence of the crime depends on the validity of the first marriage, a matter of exclusive competence of the Church in the case of marriages of the baptized.
The punishment for the crime of bigamy is of mixed forum (can. 2198).
III. IN CIVIL LAW. - Civil systems also recognize the existence of this impediment. Article 86 of the Italian Civil Code states that "one who is bound by a previous marriage cannot contract another." It is evident that the previous bond must be valid, even if not expressly stated by the law. Proof of freedom of status must be provided according to the norms of civil status law (Royal Decree of July 9, 1939, no. 1238). The Code also contemplates the case of presumed freedom of status and stipulates in Article 65: "The sentence declaring the presumed death becomes executory; the spouse may contract a new marriage." In this case, however, only the impedient effect of the previous bond ceases, not the diriment effect, since according to Article 68, the second marriage is null "if the person whose presumed death was declared returns or is found to be alive." In this case, the Civil Code safeguards the civil effects of the marriage declared null. It should also be noted that the nullity of the marriage cannot be declared if the death is ascertained, even if it occurred after the date of the new marriage, that is, when the previous bond was not yet dissolved.
The Penal Code imposes severe penalties (Articles 556-57) for the crime of bigamy (v.).
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