MARRIAGE AND ITS LEGALITY THROUGH THE PRISM OF CANONICAL NORMS AND EVERYDAY PRACTICE (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM SECULAR AND CHURCH COURTS OF PRZEMYŚL LAND OF THE 17th – 18th CENTURIES)

Authors

  • Lesia SMUTOK PhD (History), Associate Professor of the Department of World History and Special Historical Disciplines, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8918-2258
  • Oleh NALYVAIKO PhD hab. (Law), associate professor, leading researcher of the Research Laboratory of Public Community Safety Educational and Scientific Institute of Law and Social Management of the Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2911-2108

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.38.354905

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to characterize the procedure for concluding marriages and determine the legal boundaries of its legitimacy in the Ukrainian society of the early modern period using the example of Przemyśl land of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the 17th – 18th centuries. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, authorial objectivity, scientific verification of historical sources, and the use of general (analysis, synthesis, typology, classification) and special (historical-genetic, historical-systemic, historical-typological) scientific methods. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that there has been carried out a comprehensive analysis on the procedure for concluding a marriage based on the factual material of Przemyśl land territory (Western Ukrainian lands); the legal foundations of its existence have been clarified through the prism of law and everyday practices. Conclusions. The family creation had established forms and procedures in the territory of the Ruthenian Voivodeship (Western Ukrainian lands nowadays) in the 16th – 18th centuries. The marriage was concluded with the consent of both parties and participation of a wider circle of the family, and not only on the initiative of a groom and a bride. The procedure began with engagement – a preliminary consent of both parties to get married. The engagement was followed by marriage, the result of which was the conclusion of a marriage contract. According to the preserved texts on marriage contracts of the 16th – 18th centuries, material issues were the subject of marriage contracts primarily. In the 16th – 18th centuries, when marriage was concluded, there were taken into account social and public realities of the time and they provided for numerous restrictions and prohibitions, the violation of which caused legal conflicts and served as a basis for marriage annulment. The documents of the 17th – 18th centuries provide a rich factual material. There were several apects, which became the subject of legal proceedings and ultimately they led to marriage annulment, for example, violation of social norms, age restrictions, failure to comply with material obligations of marriage contracts, close blood relationship, different religious affiliation, etc.

Key words: marriage contracts, creation of a family, history of family law, mediation, Przemyśl Land.

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Published

2026-04-01

How to Cite

SMUTOK, L. ., & NALYVAIKO , O. . (2026). MARRIAGE AND ITS LEGALITY THROUGH THE PRISM OF CANONICAL NORMS AND EVERYDAY PRACTICE (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM SECULAR AND CHURCH COURTS OF PRZEMYŚL LAND OF THE 17th – 18th CENTURIES). EAST EUROPEAN HISTORICAL BULLETIN, (38), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.38.354905

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