Contributions to the social and legal history of marriage relations in Serbia during the first Serbian uprising

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to, after the introductory part, in which the notion of the institution of marriage and its development among Serbs until the beginning of the 19th century are followed, in the second part to present the church organization in Serbia at the time of the First Serbian Uprising, and its relationship with the insurgent authorities. Following the institution of marriage in Serbs since the Middle Ages is necessary, because in the Uprising state, the church authorities used medieval regulations and canons, primarily the Krmčija (Zakonopravilo). Also, practices from the time of Ottoman rule that immediately preceded the uprising are important, as well as the treatment of the institution of marriage among Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy, because Serbs from the two empires were in constant direct communication. The relationship between the church and the insurgent authorities results in the intertwining of jurisdiction over marital disputes between the church and secular courts, and the marital disputes, preserved in the published historical sources, primarily of the Šabac magis trate, are the only source for the social history of marital relations in the insurgent state and the practice through which the secular and church authorities solved various social phenomena and problems related to marriage.