Engagement

Engagement : Engagement (from the Latin trust meaning "entrust to") are, for a couple, a declaration of intention to marriage. The term engagement refers to the jour of this declaration, as well as the time which separates the said day from that of the marriage. It is not necessarily a religious act. An engagement ring sometimes materializes this decision.

History : In the Middle Ages, during the engagement, the couple exchanged a simple ring without a precious stone. In 1477, Archduke Maximilian offered a diamond ring to his betrothed, Marie de Bourgogne, daughter of Charles the Bold; thus begins the tradition of engagement rings.

Tradition : In general, it is the formalization of a project of marriage for wedding which must take place in the year following the engagement. Nowadays, this deadline is no longer really respected. Engagement is not necessarily a religious act. Many non-believers practice this rite, which has often become a traditional family. The engagement can be done without marriage then by a simple act of engagement.
Engagements often give rise to a Party for which both families gather together, most often around a buffet or meal engagement (*).
This moment very user-friendly is a first opportunity for both families to meet and get to know each other, thus giving a sometimes economical family scope to the engaged couple's project.

Ancient Rome : Francois Joseph Michel Holidays (1756-1841) and LJM Carpentier, in the article Fiançailles of their New Dictionary of origins, inventions and discoveries in the arts, sciences, published in 1827, evoked the question of the engagement in these terms: "At the ancients, says Mr. Furgault, the promises of marriage preceded by a few days that of marriage and wedding. When the father of the young man and that of the girl had agreed between them on the dowry, they asked for the reciprocal consent of the two future spouses and unanimity between all the contracting parties usually made the engagement. However quite often the articles and agreements of the marriage were written in a public register that everyone sealed with their seal, as the poet Juvenal (**) says. This kind of contract was made at night, and sometimes at daybreak. They took care not to make the engagement in stormy or cloudy weather; it was a bad omen. The ceremony over, the groom gave the bride a deposit consisting of a few pieces of gold or silver; shortly afterwards he sent her a plain iron ring which she wore on the second finger of her left hand. This ring was called pronobum. One could promise or betroth a girl from the age of ten; but it was forbidden by law to marry her before the completion of twelve years. ".

Legislation in France : The engagement is not a civil institution. They are neither administratively nor legally defined. Engagements are not provided for by the French civil code. If necessary, the community of life between the fiancés is assimilated to cohabitation.

Engagement at the Catholic Church : The engagement, the first step towards marriage, inaugurates the time of discernment with a view to marriage that the newly engaged couple begin a preparation for the marriage Catholic.
Engagement is not a stage of marriage, therefore not obligatory, because what constitutes marriage is the only exchange of consents during the celebration du marriage.
To avoid assimilation to marriage, the Church advises against including the betrothal not in the course of a mass but at the end of the mass, during a particular service or in a parish community. Their celebration does not require the presence of a priest.
The participation of the in family fiancés is not compulsory.
During the time of the engagement, several objectives can be pursued such as discernment, the maturation of the feeling of love, the progressive detachment from the in family as well as several spiritual issues.
Engagements are not, like the marriage, indissoluble. We can get engaged as many times as we want and as long as we have not yet discerned, they can be extended without time limit.
However, engagement was once a pious custom considered pre-contractual marriage. Thus, to obtain the cancellation of this engagement, it was necessary to justify it near the officiality of the diocese. One of the most famous sentences was pronounced by the bishopric of Luçon at the request of two Vendée Catholics who, in order to win their case, had to certify that there had never been any copulation between the fiancés. carnal, nor any conveyance to marriage other than the said betrothal.” The engagement should therefore be a period of observation in theabstinence.

(*) Engagement meal : For the decoration of the backgammon or buffet, we will play the card of the simplicity and freshness. We will decline the backgammon in tones pastels reminiscent of nuances de dragees et enhanced bysilver. With pretty plates white on the tablecloths white ou clear, you can't go wrong.
Depending on the personality of the engaged couple, for a touch more dynamic, we will dare colors plus free. We can take inspiration from the season, of its colors et materials.
Le menu ideal will be light and. We will avoid the flavors trop spicy, dish trop heavy, spot en sauce. We will opt for fish, shellfish to shellfish, poultry, vegetables and fruits de season.
Le cake engagement will also be light and but moose. We will avoid the cake reserved for meal de marriage.
For drinks, if the Mineral water are mandatory, the service du champagne (Or other sparkling wine), is not an obligation, unlike the meal de marriage.
Un White wine such as Muscadet and / or a Red wine such as Beaujolais, drinkable which is suitable for all recommended.
In some country, for an flat traditional is elaborate for this great occasion engagement. For example, in Italy, In the region of Puglia, he is custom to prepare a Pizza Calzone in which some pizzaioli of Puglia add more ingredients of black olives pitted and anchovy withoil to the Pizza Calzone.

(**) Juvénal is a Roman satirical poet from the end of the 90st century and the beginning of the 127nd century. He is the author of sixteen poetic works collected in a single book and composed between XNUMX and XNUMX, the Satires.

Literature :
– Engagement, short story by the French writer Marcel Aymé (1950).
– A Long Engagement Sunday, novel by the French writer Sébastien Japrisot (1991).

Culture : The title on the day of our engagement and interpreted by the singer Gérald de Palmas, it stages a couple whose soldier goes to war, the actors Lou Gala and Anthony Bajon are the interpreters