I hope if you have not yet, you'll read the previous posts of this series.
Without reading headings, it's obvious you're looking at a church record for births, marriages and deaths. Indexing projects seem to focus on births. While this is helpful, it's not the start of research for some. So it's my hope that marriage indexes will be next, be it the Polish Genealogy society people busy indexing at GENETEKA or the Latter Day Saint's FAMILYSEARCH projects.
You'll probably be able to make out the names, ages, parents of the couple, and so on.
If a surname seems unreadable or questionable, try running a Google search for the surname as you think it's spelled. Often a suggestion will come up that's the correct spelling and if not then my guess is that if you keep reading you will find it spelled clearly in better handwriting elsewhere in the book.
Some things to consider:
The given name in Latin has a Polish equivalent. Watch the Ls turn into Ws. The Ws into Vs. Valentius is Valentine is Walenty. (Wally, Wallace, or Val in America?) Is your Aunt Betty not Elizabeth but Bronteslava? (Bronte?) So much is in Latin but consider the translation of given names.
Next, if a person has been widowed it will be noted and it may say who they were married to previously and that's before the name of the parents and grandparents! This is terrific if you can find the birth/ baptismal too, the previous marriage, all the children and step children.
Ok you're maybe going to see three dates, say, 1/4, 1/11, 1/18. Or I, II, III. These are the banns of marriages, the announcement of the intended marriage. Today these are posted in church bulletins and even end up on the net. Soap Operas / Day Time dramas love to include into the plot that during the very marriage ceremony someone will object to the marriage. But the original idea was to cause a person with an objection to come forward to the priest before the ceremony to cancel it. Objections in the 19th century and past could include knowing someone is already married or that someone is homosexual, or that they are a criminal on the run, or that an agreement about who will live where or own land has not been peacefully decided.
My research leads me to think remarriage was a pragmatic contract but there were more concerns too as I have found records where there's no mention of banns when it's two never- married individuals joining their lives but only on the remarriage of those widows and widowers!
Now, there are often notes that need to be translated as well. I believe one priest was writing in 2 or 3 after "widower" to state the person lost two or three previous wives. Also, I've seen notes that banns were posted in two villages. Maybe they were stuck on a door of a church but since few could read and write, I think verbal announcements were made.
Another note on marriage records is a house number. Possibly if you can find a cadastral map of the habituation from the same year you can see where they lived but these don't usually relate to today's house numbers.
Testifiers or witnesses may or may not be related to the couple. Note them but sometimes they are elders of the community, employers/ farm owners (implying the groom has employment), and you'll see two, or three, or four, all or mostly men. In villages where surnames are repetitive be especially careful not to assume the testimonial people are related. Don't think of them as best men, maids of honor, or the wedding party.
Also valuable are those records that include where the person was born and where they live/habituate at the time. If no remark is made, the person is local, a part of the parish. That may mean a neighboring village which is part of that parish. If they're from somewhere else you'll go to those records for baptismal.
I've noticed some listings that give the birth dates of bride and groom. Thank You!
Remember, priests were hard working, had influence, were called upon for advice, were able to read and write, and church was central to the people's lives.
But farmers and farm laborers couldn't always make it to church. They didn't have tractors back in the day and had to hoe, plant, water, and harvest by hand or might be lucky to have horses or mules.
Professions may also be listed but more by industry. Agriculture is general and covers a wide range of possibilities.
Cobbler. Military. Official.
D. may indicate a person is of nobility - implied is of importance. Note the Germanic names in the Austrian Empire.
Notes can include statements. One I read was "person is low" a servent. Another was "this man is rustic."
So what was a peasant? Actually peasant is supposed to mean that they lived a countrified existence; that was most people. Peasant started to infer that a person was ignorant or poor, perhaps maintaining folk beliefs, and became a put down. There's no reason to think that way. Landless people who could not live off their own land became like our migrant farm workers, going from farm to farm to work odd jobs or harvest. Others went into trades and became skilled craftsman and artisans. There were traveling salesman and shop keepers and some few became more educated.
See if a statistical almanac or gazetteer is available for the habituation. Learn about mines, forestry, and industry. Oil wells, steel mills, and market towns.
Finally, note the name of the priest and try to find the name of the church.
There's a lot on line, especially the beautiful churches that tourists go to see with Baroque interiors. The wooden churches of the Greek Catholics are also wonderful.
Once you've found s marriage, see what the church where the marriage was performed looked like.
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