Legal regulation of marriage and family relations in medieval England

Introduction: the family is one of the greatest values created by mankind in the entire historyof its existence. Society and the state are interested in its positive development, preservation and consolidation; everyone needs a strong, reliable family, regardless of age. The purpose of this article is to consider the development of marriage and family relations in medieval England and their features. To reveal the position of the author of the article about why knowledge about family and marriage relations in medieval England is needed in modern Russia, which is significant for Russian civil and family law. When writing the article, the following research methods were used - analysis and synthesis, classification and comparison methods. Results: the article considers that by the example of studying English gender relations in the medieval period, it is possible to trace the process of formation of gender history in modern medieval studies. The author has carried out work on the study of existing forms of marriage in England, the processes of transformation of the familyinto a stable basis of Western society. Conclusions: as a result of the study, it was found that in the Middle Ages monogamous marriage prevailed over polygamy and a man’s right to divorce, and its goal gradually shifted from realizing the interests of parents and relatives to meeting the needs of a married couple. Over time, the ancient clan lost its importance and disappeared. Thus, constantly changing in its composition throughout the life cycle, the family household already dominated at all levels of the social landscape by the boundary separating the Middle Ages from Modern Times.