MARRIAGE CONTRACT IN GENTRY ESTATE IN BELARUS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XIX CENTURY
Marriage contract in gentry families in Belarus at the beginning of the XIX century on the basis of the analysis of archive materials, legal documents, memoirs of the XIX <sup>th</sup> century etc. is studied. Marriage contract procedure according to canonical, legal and custom postulates of gentry estate taking into consideration political, social and economical changes after the entry of Belarusian territories into the Russian empire is described. The author summarizes that religious marriage with parental permission was the only accepted form of future conjoint life regulation as well as catholic confession took priority in marriage contract procedure. The author mentions characteristic processes of determination of parental will when choosing spouses for their children and insignificant changes towards a more tolerant policy of a family in practice of marriage.