Don Cossack wedding of the "knights" period: the sources of description

The article deals with the development of Don Cossack wedding from the masculine type at the primary stages of the Cossacks’ establishment to the feminine type of the modern history in historical perspective. Pre-church period of the Cossacks history is named “knights”. The wedding procedure and divorce were conducted at the Cossacks meeting. The church weddings were in the churches outside of the Don Troops Land. The wedding rite on the church basis became widespread on the Don at the end of the XVII - beginning of the XVIII centuries.