7. Valentine’s Day Superstitions. In medieval folklore, Valentine’s Day was associated with various superstitions and divination rituals aimed at predicting one’s future romantic prospects. For example, young women would perform rituals involving mirrors or apple peels to catch a glimpse of their future spouse. The association between Saint Valentine’s Day and lovers is the fault of one Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340–1400). In his late 14th-century comic dream-vision, the Parliament of Fowls , he describes a group of birds who gather together in the early spring – on ‘seynt valentynes day’ – to choose their mates for the year. B y the late 14th century, the feast day of a martyred Roman saint named Valentine was strongly enough associated with lovers that Geoffrey Chaucer could write that the holiday was when ‘every bird cometh there to choose his mate’. Yet the first Valentine greeting in English that is preserved dates from 1477. Explore the enchanting world of Valentine's Day during the Middle Ages. Discover medieval customs, legendary love stories, and the era's lasting impact on modern romance. But, since his contemporaries were more familiar with the Feb. 14 Saint Valentine’s Day, that was the date that became attached to the new holiday of romance. In some ways, that may be a good thing. In the century that followed Chaucer’s use of the idea of birds selecting their mates on St. Valentine’s day, the celebration of February 14 as a festival of love became widespread in western Europe, showing up in poetry, songs, and even Valentine’s letters in England, France, and Iberia. Though most of the examples we have come from The story of St Valentine’s Day begins with some unknown medieval birdwatchers, probably in France rather than England, who reckoned that birds begin mating in mid-February, and decided to give this a precise date: 14 February. (They may have followed some folk tradition – in Slovenia this is still said to be the first day Charles’s Valentine’s Day poetry. Although he can’t qualify as having written the first Valentine, Charles d'Orléans was still an important figure in the development of Valentine’s Day. About fourteen of his poems explore the subject of Valentine’s Day, a surprisingly high number, many of which can be found in British Library St Valentine and the (possible) origins of Valentine’s Day Two St Valentines are listed in the Roman Martyrology for February 14 th : one was a martyred Roman priest who had supposedly been killed on the Flaminian Way during Claudius’ reign (AD 41-54); the other was the Bishop of Terni, who had been martyred in Rome but whose relics had These writers reference Valentine’s Day courting rituals in their works—in particular, Chaucer’s Parlement of Foules (ca. 1370s) and de Grandson’s Songe Saint Valentine (c. 1370). Their poetry alludes to a bit of folklore common in late medieval England and France: that birds choose their mates in mid-February. The story of Valentine’s Day begins in ancient Rome with the festival of Lupercalia. This vibrant mid-February celebration honored fertility, purification, and the coming of spring. Young men would draw names of women from a jar, forming couples for the duration of the festival. By the 19th century, Valentine’s Day had evolved significantly, with one of the most notable changes being the rise of Valentine’s Day cards. What began as handwritten notes exchanged between lovers in the medieval era gradually transformed into a commercial enterprise during the Victorian period. Valentine’s Day Stories. I hope you enjoy these classic stories about love that are perfect for Valentine’s Day (or any other time of the year). Selections include fairy tales, Greek mythology, medieval romance, and more. These stories are all great for reading aloud, and most of them have free audio available! St. Valentine, a name that is synonymous with love and romance across the globe, lived at a time when the Roman Empire was at its zenith. He is often best remembered for the act of marrying couples in secret defiance of the Roman Emperor's bans. However, the truth about St. Valentine is far more complex, woven from a mixture of historical fragments, religious tradition, and folklore. This has Their poems about Valentine’s Day show them operating as an international chivalric team to address pressing issues in the theory and practice of love, then and now. In the poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” Chaucer presents Valentine’s Day as a day when birds gather to choose their mates under the supervision of nature. In the poem Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated every February 14; this year Valentine's Day falls on a Friday. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts Valentine’s Day, in fact, originated as a liturgical feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. So, how did we get from beheading to betrothing on Valentine’s Day? Early origins of St. Valentine. Ancient sources reveal that there were several St. Valentines who died on Feb. 14. Every year I can tell from my stats page when the googling world starts preparing itself for Valentine's day, and in light of the number of people who arrive at this blog in search of medieval love poems, medieval terms of endearment, and ways to compliment their sweethearts in various medieval languages, I thought it might be a public service to combine the lot of them in one post of many links. Valentine’s Day originated as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. It took a gruesome path to becoming a romantic holiday. Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14, has evolved over centuries, blending Christian, Roman, and medieval traditions into the day of love and affection we recognize today. The history behind this beloved holiday, and its patron saint, St. Valentine, is steeped in mystery, with several legends surrounding the origins. Who Was Saint Valentine? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three
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