Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/11 - De Duobus Hominibus Singulas Sorores Accipientibus/Historical Note

Historical Note on Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York: Problem $11$: Variant $2$

According to David Singmaster, this problem, along with two related problems (no pun intended) originating from Bede which he also documents, are the earliest of the strange family type.

There are contemporary examples of such:

At 52, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith but divorced after a year.

Bill's 30-year-old son then, Stephen married Mandy's mother, age 46.

Therefore, Bill became the father-in-law of his ex mother-in-law

as well as the stepgrandfather of his former wife.

Sources

• 1992: John Hadley/2 and David Singmaster: Problems to Sharpen the Young (Math. Gazette Vol. 76, no. 475: pp. 102 – 126)  www.jstor.org/stable/3620384