I confess, my head is spinning over St. Valentine. To begin with, there appear to have been more than one sainted Valentine; and the confusion is great enough that St. Valentine was omitted from the ‘Catholic Calendar of Saints’ as revised in 1969. On the other hand, "Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome" is still on the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics. So there is something to the story; but how did Valentine’s Day become a celebration of romance?
A pair of antiquarians, Alban Butler (1756, ‘Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints’) and Francis Douce (1807), attempted to explain Valentine’s day as, perhaps, Christianity’s attempt to co-opt ancient, and dismally pagan, Roman festivals. Butler seems to have fabricated a festival to illustrate his argument, writing, "To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honour of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets, given on this day." Half a century later Francis Douce then jumped in and attached Butler’s story to Lupercalia.
Lupercalia was celebrated at about the same time as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, so there is a certain ‘post hoc’ synergy to the claim. For those of you who’ve never heard of it, it was described by Plutarch, born (for those of you who saw the great PBS series) during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, as follows. “Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.” That doesn’t sound much like our Valentine’s Day, to me; so I think this makes the Butler/Douce story just another great story ruined by an eye-witness - except for one thing. It became a popular myth. In fact, it was one I learned in my (long ago) childhood. So where is the romance?
It may go back to Geoffery Chaucer and his ‘Parlement of Foules”, and no, it’s not about fouls or fools, it’s about love birds - royal ones. As a good soldier of Edward III (during the 100 years war), an officer of John of Gaunt (the king was a minor) and a recognized man of letters, Chaucer was called upon to write a poem to honor the first anniversary of Richard IIs engagement to Anne of Bohemia (both were 15 when they married). The telling lines follow: “ For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.” Of course, English hadn’t been standardized in Chaucer’s day so perhaps you’d like a translation - “For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes to choose his mate.” Now as the engagement had taken place in May, 1381, that left February out of the running - but not Saint Valentine - no, not the one buried buried at the Via Flaminia, the one who had been the bishop of Genoa. In the liturgical calendar of Chaucer’s day May 2 was the saints’ day for Valentine of Genoa (circa A.D. 300); and in some way, this does connect ‘Valentine’s Day’ with romantic love, and who knows, perhaps (with an apology to the Bard) all’s well that ends well. All, however, did not end happily for Richard and Anne.
Perhaps they could have used a little lupercalia magic, as their marriage produced no heirs. This led to a clouded line of succession to the English throne resulting, in the 1450s, in the Wars of the Roses fought between two ‘cadet’ lines of inheritance - the house of York and the house of Lancaster. While this has little to do with romance (but Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’ has its moments - with a politic leer or two), it may be worth noting that while the English were fighting it out, one of the House of York’s collateral relatives, Mary of Burgundy, was being romanced by many; and she finally accepted, with the gift of the first diamond engagement ring we know of, the marriage offer of Archduke Maximilian of Austria. A man of the moment, the Archduke’s diamond had probably been polished in Mary’s estates on equipment that had been invented (and patented!) less than four years earlier.
We love Valentine’s Day. This year we’ve made a special connection with Shamrock Gardens Florist in Riverside, Illinois, to make your Valentine’s gift even better; come in and learn about it after you’ve bought that perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Remember, our diamonds and our diamond jewelry have been carefully crafted for lasting beauty; so check us out on line at hurstsberwnjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to select the perfect piece for you. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers, an uncommon jeweler.
P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.
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