num_pages: 291
description: Followers of the Bible have fiercely resisted the practise of polygamy.Western society usually associates the taking of multiple wives with the Muslim world, and with the South Sea Islands. But John Cairncross contends, in this fascinating historical analysis, that it was only when the Church became centred in Rome that polygamy became a ‘sin’. He shows that in fact there was a strong underground polygamous tradition in early Christian Europe, from around 1525 to 1800, which was persecuted and finally stamped out by Rome. Based on rigorous examination of texts from this era both for and against polygamy, this study gives a remarkable insight into moral/sexual attitudes, and particularly the status of women, at the time.Cairncross first relates the antics and amours of a community resident in what is now Germany, the Munster Anabaptists, giving a detailed and engaging account of how they managed to actually maintain a polygamous society during the sixteenth century. He then moves on to America, and shows how the practise resurfaced with the establishment of the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement, was himself an enthusiastic polygamist, as was the leader of the Anabaptists, and Cairncross makes the connection between the private lives of these two men and the communities they led. He also discusses a number of prominent figures in Europe, including the poet John Milton, Isaac Newton and Spinoza, who appear to approve of polygamy in theory.A gifted linguist, John Cairncross translated some texts which had not been read before in English. In his exposition of these documents, he shines an entirely new light on attitudes towards this contentious issue that have not previously been pointed out. He was a brilliant scholar who was long suspected of being the ‘fifth man’ in the notorious Cambridge spy ring in 1940s Britain. Having fled the UK, he took up academic posts in the US and then Italy. This excellent study shows his gift for meticulous research together with his witty take on human nature, and is a valuable addition to the history of polygamy in Western culture.‘Cairncross has done remarkably thorough research. He has discovered and, in some cases, translated materials which had been lost or at least neglected for many years’ – Oxford Academic Journal of Church and State‘This book, subtitled The Social History of Christian Polygamy , was written by a former British civil-servant and journalist who discovered an anti-polygamy book in a Paris bookstore in the 1950’s. The book dated back to the eighteenth century and Mr. Cairncross set out to discover the movement to which this book had reacted’ – The Muslim Times‘An interesting read for anyone curious about this topic, varying views on marriage and related issues, or European and American history in general’ – GoodReadsJohn Cairncross - 1913 – 1995 - was a British civil servant. He was also a gifted linguist and published translations of French poetry, as well as writing his own book on Moliere. He worked at the Foreign Office, and then at Bletchley Park during the second world war. He spent his last years in the south of France with his wife, American opera singer Gayle Brinkerhoff, where he was a close neighbour of his friend and supporter the novelist Graham Green. In 1997 his memoir The Enigma Spy was published posthumously. He was portrayed in the 2014 film The Imitation Game and appears as the fifth of the Cambridge Spies in Frederic Forsyth’s novel The Deceiver .
language: English
title: After Polygamy Was Made a Sin: The Social History of Christian Polygamy