I woot wel that th’ apostel was a mayde;
But nathelees, thogh that he wroot and sayde
He wolde that every wight were swich as he,
Al nys but conseil to virginitee.
And for to been a wyf he yaf me leve
Of indulgence; so nys it no repreve
To wedde me, if that my make dye,
Withouten excepcion of bigamye.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. In her home-spun theology and interpretation of the Bible, Wife of Bath Alison says she knows that the apostle Paul was a virgin and wished that everyone were as he. But that was just advice, and Paul gave her explicit permission to be wed again, if her husband should die, without objection on grounds of bigamy.