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Engagements were crucial to the traditional matrimonial process of the French nobility. From the twelfth century on, the Church became involved in the celebration of the engagement. However, judiciary and literary sources–court cases at the Paris Parliament, letters of grace of the king of France, and French chronicles–reveal that this involvement remained superficial. While Church and nobility agreed on the form of the engagement and the importance of rituals, they disagreed on its meaning. For the nobility of the late Middle Ages, the engagement represented an oath confirming the marriage agreement and ensuring its realization. It constituted a central moment in the foundation of marriage and not only, as in the Church’s view, the announcement of an upcoming marriage.