the statesmanlike qualities displayed on this occasion were insufficient to avert the storm of indignation of crispi's opponents when he was accused of bigamy. when he remarried, a woman he had married in 1853 was still living. but a court ruled that crispi's 1853 marriage on malta was invalid because it was contracted while another woman he had married yet earlier was also still alive. by the time of his third marriage, his first wife had died and his marriage to his second wife was legally invalid. therefore, his marriage to his third wife was ruled valid and not bigamous. he was nevertheless compelled to resign office after only three months in march 1878, bringing down the whole government with him.