Some Top Tips for Valentine’s Day … from Medieval Lovers

Ancient Origins

If you’d asked someone to be your Valentine before the 14th century, they’d probably have looked at you as if you were mad. And checked you weren’t holding an axe.

There were two saints by the name of Valentine who were venerated on February 14 during the Middle Ages. Both Valentines were supposedly Christian priests who fell foul of Roman officials keen on decapitation. But there’s little in the early legends of either saint to suggest a highly successful posthumous career as assistant Cupid. So I wouldn’t go to them for tips.

It was probably Geoffrey Chaucer who got the Valentine’s ball rolling. In his Parliament of Fowls, Chaucer imagined the goddess Nature pairing off all the birds for the year to come on “Seint Valentynes day”

. First up is the queenly eagle. She’s wooed at great length by noble birds-of-prey, much to the annoyance of the ducks and cuckoos and other low-ranking birds (eager to get on with getting it on):

‘Come on!’ they cried, ‘Alas, you us offend! When will your cursed pleading have an end?’

But why on earth did Chaucer pick a date in February for his avian assembly? England’s birds aren’t exactly in full voice at this time of year, even with global warming. Perhaps he was thinking of an obscure St Valentine celebrated in Genoa in the month of May. But the Valentines fêted on February 14 were better-known, and that was the date that stuck. Of course, when it comes to matters of the heart, we can hardly expect reason to triumph.

Fiction to fact
Murky origins didn’t matter for too long, however. By the turn of the 15th century, fictional lovebirds weren’t the only ones singing their hearts out on Valentine’s day.

According to its founding charter, a society known as the “Court of Love” was set up in France in 1400 as a distraction from a particularly nasty bout of plague. This curious document stipulates that every February 14: “when the little birds resume their sweet song” (sure about that, guys?), members should meet in Paris for a splendid supper. Male guests were to bring a love song of their own composition, to be judged by an all-female panel. More effort than Tinder demands, then. But if you want to make an effort…

Detail of a 15th-century miniature depicting an allegorical court of love (Royal 16 F II, f. 1) British Library

There’s no evidence that the Court of Love convened as often as planned (its charter provided for monthly meetings in addition to February 14 festivities). But nor does it seem to have been pure poetic fiction. Eventually totalling 950 or so, participants represented quite a cross-section of society, from the king of France to the petite bourgeoisie. Valentine’s day romance was no longer just for the eagles.

Today’s February 14 love-fest, then, is perhaps the result of a group of medieval men and women making life imitate art. If so, their mimicry wasn’t necessarily naïve. By staging the most poetic of avian courtship rituals, Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls prompts its audiences to ponder the differences between their “artistic” courtship and the birds’ “natural” one. Texts like this one helped medieval audiences understand their identities as the product of cultural artefacts. And in this regard they can still help us today.

 Four medieval tips

On this 14th-century coffret, a man surrenders his heart to Lady Love. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org)

On a more practical note, medieval literature can be of assistance if you’re yet to find a gift for a special someone this Valentine’s day. Forget about flashy jewellery; here are some love tokens suitable for every budget:

Looking to reignite that spark in your relationship? In his 12th-century Art of Courtly Love Andreas Capellanus suggests buying your partner a washbasin. Who needs expensive perfume when a good wash may do the trick?

How about personalising some of your beloved’s clothes? Add fasteners only you know how to undo and you’ve got yourself an instant chastity belt. (See the 12th-century tales by Marie de France for examples of suitable garments.)

Alternatively, upcycle one of your lover’s old shirts by sewing strands of your hair into it. To judge by Alexander’s reaction in the 12th-century romance of Cligés by Chrétien de Troyes, they’ll never want to wear anything else. (Hand-wash only.)

And if the above just don’t seem heartfelt enough, you could always take a leaf out of Le Chastelain de Couci’s book, who (according to his 13th-century biography) literally gave his heart to his lover. (Beware unwanted side effects.)

Top tip: provide a little literary and historical context with the above gifts and there’s even a chance your Valentine won’t look at you as if you’re holding an axe.

The article ‘Some top tips for Valentine’s day … from Medieval lovers’ by Huw Grange was originally published on The Conversation and has been republished under a Creative Commons license.

Top image: Lovebirds in the 14th-century Codex Manesse (Cod. Pal. germ. 848, f. 249v).

How to make 17th-century chocolate for Valentine's Day

History Extra

To make Chocolate

 Take your Choco Nutts and put them over the fire either In earthern pott, or kettle or frying pan keeping them stirring with a brass spoone till they be very hott and of black browne, then take them and pull of[f] the shells with your fingers. They must look of a black colour though not to[o] much burnt.

 Then you must pound them in a great iron or brass mortar and seeth [sieve] them through a fine lawne [linen] seeth [sieve], and soe pound them againe and soe seeth it till all getts through, then take two pound of the powder and three quarters of a pound of good white sugar about 5d or 6d per pound being seethed [sieved] all one as the Choco Nutts, then put a Nuttmeg and half and ounce of Cinnamon and pound it well together and seeth it as herein before mentioned and to each pound of Choco Nutt the like quantity.

 When you have mixt it altogether, take your mortar and putt it on the fire and make it pretty hott and take the pestle also, then putt the stuff in it and beat it till it comes to a smooth past[e], then take it out and weigh it into Quarters of pounds then Roll it round in your hands and putt it on a Quarter of sheet of paper and take the paper into your two hands and chafe it up and down till it comes to a short Roll.

 English medical notebook, 1575-1663 (Wellcome Library MS.6812, p.137)

A brief history of Valentine's Day cards

History Extra

A Valentine's Day card from 1906 depicting Cupid at the wheel of a car decorated with flowers. (Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

The origins of Valentine’s Day

From 13 to 15 February, ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. Many believe that the origins of Valentine’s Day can be traced back to this ancient fertility festival. To mark the occasion Roman men sacrificed goats before using their skins to whip women in the belief that this would make them fertile. Some historians have argued that at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I declared 14 February to be Valentine’s Day in an attempt to reclaim this festival from the Romans and Christianise it. 

 

It’s not clear which St Valentine this day was initially dedicated to, as two saints with this name share the feast day of 14 February. Both of these saints were martyred in Rome; Valentine of Terni in around AD 197 and Valentine of Rome in around AD 496. 

 

Many legends have been recorded about the latter St Valentine, but these are most likely apocryphal. These include the story that Valentine himself fell in love with his jailor’s daughter while incarcerated for giving aid to prisoners. According to this tale, St Valentine wrote his inamorata a note signed “from your Valentine”: the first Valentine’s greeting. However, while this fanciful story is compelling, it is unlikely to be true. 

 

The next milestone in the history of Valentine’s Day came in 1382, when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his poem Parlement of Foules. This poem contains what is widely reported to be the first recorded instance of St Valentine’s Day being linked to romantic love. This reference can be found in the lines: 

 

For this was on seynt Volantynys day

Whan euery foul comyth there to chese his make.

 

Not everyone agrees that Chaucer was referring to 14 February here, however. Some have argued that he was instead talking of May time, when birds are more likely to mate in England. This coincides with the feast of St Valentine of Genoa, which also falls in May. Nevertheless, the story of Chaucer’s connection with Valentine’s Day is often repeated.

 

 

The first Valentine’s greetings

In 15th-century France, 14 February became an annual feast day celebrating romantic love. Lavish banquets with singing and dancing were held to mark the occasion. It was also a 15th-century Frenchman who committed the earliest surviving Valentine’s greeting to paper. While imprisoned in the Tower of London following the 1415 battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Orleans wrote to his wife:

 

Je suis desja d'amour tanné

Ma tres doulce Valentinée

 

This translates roughly as, “I am already sick of love, my very gentle Valentine”. This remarkable letter survives in the manuscript collections of the British Library, which also holds the oldest surviving Valentine’s letter in the English language. This dates from 1477 and was sent by one Margery Brews to her fiancé John Paston. In this letter Margery describes John as her “right well-beloved Valentine”. 

 

By the 17th century Valentine’s Day gets a mention in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when Ophelia is given the lines:

 

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,

All in the morning betime,


And I a maid at your window,


To be your Valentine.

 

However, it was in the 18th century that the most familiar Valentine’s poem made its first appearance. These lines, found in a collection of nursery rhymes printed in 1784, read:

 

The rose is red, the violet's blue,

The honey's sweet, and so are you.

 

While this was the first appearance of the poem in this form, its origins reach back to Sir Edmund Spenser’s 1590s epic, The Faerie Queene. This featured the lines:

 

She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,

And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.

 

^{Title page from Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’, 1590. (Culture Club/Getty Images)}

 

The first Valentine’s cards

The first Valentine’s cards were sent in the 18th century. Initially these were handmade efforts, as pre-made cards were not yet available. Lovers would decorate paper with romantic symbols including flowers and love knots, often including puzzles and lines of poetry. Those who were less inspired could buy volumes that offered guidance on selecting the appropriate words and images to woo their lover. These cards were then slipped secretly under a door, or tied to a door-knocker. 

 

It was in Georgian Britain that pre-printed cards first began to appear, though these were not yet as popular as they were eventually to become. Perhaps the oldest surviving example dates from 1797: this card, held at York Castle Museum, was sent by one Catherine Mossday to a Mr Brown of London. It is decorated with flowers and images of Cupid, with a verse printed around the border reading:

 

Since on this ever Happy day,


All Nature's full of Love and Play


Yet harmless still if my design,


'Tis but to be your Valentine.

 

^{An early hand-made puzzle purse valentine, from around 1790. (Private Collection/Bridgeman Images)}

 

Victorian valentines

The industrialisation of Britain in the early 19th-century brought with it rapid advances in printing and manufacturing technologies. It became easier than ever to mass-produce Valentine’s cards, which soon became immensely popular. It is estimated that by the mid 1820s, some 200,000 Valentines were circulated in London alone. The introduction of the Uniform Penny Post [a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UK's official postal service, that took place in the 19th century] in 1840 bolstered the popularity of Valentine’s cards yet further: reports suggest that by the late 1840s the amount of cards being circulated doubled, doubling once again in the next two decades.

 

Many Victorian Valentine’s cards survive, but most intriguing is a collection of more than 1,700 examples that is held at the Museum of London. This is the archive of the stationer Jonathan King, who ran a card-making enterprise in London. This collection, which has been digitised, demonstrates the huge array of designs, verses and sentiments that were popular with lovers in Victorian Britain. Cards tended to feature elaborate paper lacework, embossing and other intricate designs. The more expensive the card, the more elaborate the design would be. This meant it would be obvious how much your lover had spent on a card! Typical imagery included flowers, love knots and Cupid. Though hearts were sometimes used, Victorian cards did not feature the ubiquitous red hearts that are so typical of Valentine’s cards today. 

 

Lucy Worsley visited this collection in her October 2015 BBC series A Very British Romance. The programme featured the most elaborate card in the collection, which was made by Jonathan King himself for the woman he loved. This huge card boasts layer after layer of lace, decorated with embroidery, beads, ribbons and shells. It includes many lines of poetry, and even a secret concealed card featuring a paper chest of drawers. Each drawer lists a womanly virtue, but in the final drawer is a gold ring. This suggests that the card actually served as King’s proposal to his future wife. Happily, she accepted his offer, and this romantic couple went on to have 15 children, one of whom was appropriately named Valentine.

 

^{A remarkably elaborate hand-cut card made from white and pink paper, 1890. (JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images)}

 

Not all Victorian Valentine’s cards were so romantic, however. The less loved-up were able to buy ‘Vinegar Valentines’ – cards designed to insult. These cards typically lampooned a man’s profession or a woman’s appearance. One example that survives in the collections of the University of Birmingham features a cartoon of a woman with a large nose. Under the title ‘Miss Nosey’ are the following lines:

 

On account of your talk of others’ affairs

At most dances you sit warming the chairs.

Because of the care with which you attend

To all others’ business you haven’t a friend.

 

Sometimes men sent such cards to their male friends in order to mock them, with examples featuring taunts about baldness and alcoholism. It was clearly very insulting to receive a card like this, which possibly accounts for the fact that relatively few examples survive!

 

Other unconventional cards were less vicious, however, and reveal the Victorian sense of fun. One example held at York Castle Museum features a shock of real human hair fashioned into a moustache. The card reads:

 

For the New Woman! With St Valentine’s Heartiest Greetings and Best Hopes that she will receive another (moustache) – With A Man Attached.

 


This humorous card would perhaps not look out of place in a 21st-century shop, where jokey cards remain a popular choice for those who are averse to romance.

 

 

The commercialisation of Valentine’s Day

In the mid-19th century the Valentine’s card travelled across the Atlantic. Cards rapidly gained popularity in America, where they were initially advertised as a British fashion. Advanced American technologies meant that more elaborate cards were produced cheaply, encouraging their popularity yet further. In 1913 Hallmark Cards produced their first Valentine’s card, representing a key development in the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day.

 

^{Valentine cards with a golfing theme, 1911. The left card was for the US market, the right card for the British market. The more intimate nature of the card on the left was considered inappropriate at the time in the UK. (Sarah Fabian-Baddiel/Heritage Images/Getty Images)}

 

Thanks in large part to marketing campaigns, Valentine’s Day has today become a time not only for sending cards, but for buying flowers, jewellery, perfume and chocolates. And now you know this annual celebration of love is anything but modern. 

 

Anna Maria Barry is a cultural historian and PhD student at Oxford Brookes University. 

Happy Valentine’s Day: Why You Owe Your Monogamy To Saint Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you’re coupled, and especially if you’re married in the Christian tradition, this Valentine’s Day means more than you probably realize.
Saint Valentine, the Christian figure honored on this day, died for his belief that two people in love had the right to be married.
Valentine was a bishop in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius II. In response to Rome’s crumbling influence and power as those formerly under the Emperor’s control began to push back against the Empire’s expansive rule, Claudius banned marriage.

The Emperor’s justification was that marriage made soldier’s weak.
Many citizens, including the Bishop Valentine, were aghast at this turn of events.
Valentine remedied this by meeting with lovers in secret and marrying them in defiance of the new edict.
The religious figure was eventually discovered and punished severely for his actions.
In 269 AD, Valentine was beaten with clubs, stoned, and beheaded for his belief in monogamous marriage.
Others say that St. Valentine only died after he tried (and failed) to convert Claudius.
Why do we exchange cards on Valentine’s Day?
It’s believed that the Roman bishop left a kind note to the jailer’s daughter ahead of his execution that he signed, “From Your Valentine.”

The idea that Valentine’s Day could be associated with something so violent may shock persons who associate it with candy and roses, but it turns out that all three men known as St. Valentine were martyred.

Of the three, it’s believed that February 14th is most associated with this particular Saint Valentine. This bishop was the most popular of the group of martyrs, and most associated with lovers.

Although, it’s possible that the holiday is associated with a composite of the three men.

What are some important takeaways from Valentine’s Day with this in mind?

There was a time when Christian monogamy was not only against the norm, but in a specific incidence, it was against the law.

If you wanted to spend your life with one other person, you would have to be married in secret by a priest willing to risk his life so that you could be together.

Nearly two thousand years later and things have changed quite a bit.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated by monogamous lovers and happily married couples.

Marriage rights are still an issue, only the persons wishing to be recognized are same-sex couples, and in some cases polygamous couples.

If the most famous Saint Valentine were alive today, do you think he’d defy laws and customs to marry persecuted couples?

[Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

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