'And if you know of any impediments, either of consanguinity, affinity or spiritual relationship, or of any other reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, you are bound to declare the same to us as soon as possible.' As a child, hearing the banns read out in church, I used to wonder idly what kind of 'other reason' there might be. In fact, the canon lawyers distinguish quite a number of such reasons, including force, error, insanity, homosexuality, and also impotence, the subject of Pierre Darmon's study, published in French in 1979 and now available in English translation.

LRB 6 March 1986 | PDF Download