Avi, I know in Teiman some of the Yidden had wives in different cities, with a separate home for each of them.
Milhouse, isn’t the machlokes whether the Cherem expired in 5000 or whether it expired 1000 years after it was issued? I seem to recall that according to those Rishonim that it expired in 5000, it was extended by the rabbonim of the time of expiration. Which would mean that the Cherem today, based on those that hold R”G’s expired, is not based on R”G’s original Cherem but rather on its later extension. It also means that the rabbonim today have the right to end the Cherem, should they consider that to be prudent. I heard Rav Miller zt’l say that the contemporary rabbonim could discontinue it.