 In particular, there were trials for bigamy, a relatively frequent offence in a society that only permitted divorce under the most extreme circumstances.In the case of men, the penalty was two hundred lashes and five to ten years of "service to the Crown".Said service could be whatever the court deemed most beneficial for the nation but it usually was either five years as an oarsman in a royal galley for those without any qualification (possibly a death sentence), or ten years working maintained but without salary in a public Hospital or charitable institution of the sort for those with some special skill, such as doctors, surgeons, or lawyers.