The history of the engagement

The engagement as a ceremony, whether large or small, is of course not as old as love itself. Historically, since antiquity, the man has been cultivating the custom of permanently bonding to a wife / partner through engagement. For centuries, the act of engagement has given the beloved one a binding promise to marry him and spend life together until death. Traditionally, the betrothed willing to give his love on this occasion a ring.

Going back to Jewish and Greek antiquity, the original idea of the engagement does not appear in a romantic context at all. Initially, the engagement of a young woman, often before marriageable age, was family arranged and guided by economic interests. For centuries, long before a girl was allowed to have a free will, engagement and marriage were therefore primarily intended to continue the social status of the family. One became engaged and married only within the social class. Nobody wants to say, of course, that marriage did not mean pure love! But historically, an engagement was primarily an economic and social contract between two families. Not infrequently, these contracts were negotiated in detail by professional matchmakers in order to comply with the complex rules of the respective time and faith. All snow from the day before yesterday? Not exactly. After all, even in the 21st century such processes are still used in some parts of the world. In general, however, almost everything has changed since ancient times. In the Middle Ages, the young noble man chose his chosen one on balls. His mother stood by his side to advise. Finally, too important was the influence of the families, their ownership and title of the other party. In the underclass of the society, on the other hand, loving couples had to assert themselves before a clergyman and prove worthy. In order for an engagement to be concluded, one was usually dependent on his blessing. If one ignored this or turned out to be unworthy, he could be expelled from society.

In today’s Western world, a woman enjoys the perfectly natural right to self-determination. And absolutely every person is allowed to follow his/her feelings, live out his/her sexuality and his/her opinions freely. In this time, in which everything is possible and everything is allowed, fortunately the betrothal, as a purely romantic undertaking between two people, again comes to the fore. The man asks the woman – the man asks the man – the woman asks the woman resp. (amazingly often!) the woman asks the man. What? Well, the question of all questions: “Will you marry me?” With this question, in a romantic atmosphere, in 99.9% of all cases a ring for engagement is presented. Because that’s the point: a fiancé is overjoyed to show the whole world that he is promised to his partner. The fourth finger of the left hand is directly connected to the heart by a vein. You actually know that since antiquity. Therefore, this finger is perfect as a ring finger and the ring as such is also. A ring is closed forged round and is therefore faith-independent for perfection, for eternity and unity. Attributes that are exactly transferable to a couple who loves everything. The ring is as important as the question itself – he must come from heart-felt conviction and necessarily be the personal measure of all things! A ring buyer must not skimp. He must convince his opponent with his decision, both for the partner and for this very ring! Every person should only get an engagement ring in life – that of the perfect partner. Both should be moved to joyful tears of love and admiration at every moment of happiness.