Most of the traditional holidays we celebrate have less than rational backgrounds. In the case of Valentine’s Day, we have some murky, but interesting history to delve into. Living in northern climes (as I do), the notion that February has some innate relationship with romantic love has always seemed weird. If you consider that the farther south you go, there is a point where February could be seen as the harbinger of spring. This is the key.
The modern celebration of Valentine’s Day goes back to (arguably) either the late 1700’s or to the age of Geoffrey Chaucer and the idea of courtly love (1280’s…).This was a rather pretty form of socialization for the aristocracy. It took place in the early spring as a part of what could be called in other cultures, possibly a fertility festival.
Then there is the reason to conflate Saint Valentine with this fertility festival… It turns out that Saint Valentine’s feast day took place ‘on top’ of the Lupercalia, a (pagan) Roman Fertility Festival…what an amazing coincidence. There are many cases of emerging religions using this sort of syncretic ploy to gain adherents…
But the story doesn’t stop…just yet. Even amongst the Romans the feast of the Lupercalia was a bit too newfangled for their patrician bones, prior to this there was the spring cleaning festival if Februa which took place on about the same dates. You may have noticed that this is where we get the name for the month…
I love unraveling stories like this; it is one of the many joys in studying history. The fact is that we live on top the ruins of many preceding cultures.
Valentine’s Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
Saint Valentine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
Lupercalia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia
Februa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Februa
