BLOOD-SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP AS A MARRIAGE PERMITTING REQUIREMENT FOR UKRAINIAN BRIDES OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH – THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article examines changes in civil legislation and church documentation on the conditions of blood and spiritual kinship as a marriage permit requirement for Ukrainian brides of the second half of the 18th – the first half of the 19th centuries. Since the named matrimonial requirement for the conclusion of a family union remains in force to this day, the research does not lose its relevance. Thanks to the documentation of the directive-administrative, statutory, investigative, procedural-sentencing, information-publishing content, the basics of the legality of marriage were studied, provided that the permitted degrees of blood and spiritual kinship were observed. In support of the theses, offenders’ individual life stories of are given. The base of sources and the indicated problem motivated the use, in addition to general scientific ones, also specific problem methods: prosopographic, semiotic, microhistorical and critical analysis. The study found, that during the second half of the 18th – the first half of the 19th century, the forbidden degrees of blood and spiritual kinship have been reduced. Cases of incest were considered grave crimes. Violators were punished in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation and the violated degrees of kinship. The inconsistency of legislative initiatives was revealed: as a result of obtaining special permission from the church authorities and reducing the permissive conditions of blood and spiritual kinship, marriages of close relatives were formed, however, according to the norms of civil law, such actions can be qualified as illegal and persons can be brought to criminal liability.