A Pagan Festival and a poem

It is widely believed that Valentine’s Day started on the 14^th of February as an attempt to ‘Christianize’ the Pagan holiday Lupercalia. Lupercalia festival, which was on the 13^th-15^th of February, is a complete contrast to Valentine’s Day. The celebration was a violent and bloody event, with the sacrificing of goats as well as random coupling up of people in an attempt to fight off evil spirits. This celebration was outlawed by Pope Gelasius who deemed the festival ‘un-Christian’ and later declared the 14^th of February St. Valentine’s Day, a day for celebrating Saint Valentine.

It wasn’t until the 14^th century when St. Valentine’s Day was linked with Love and romance. Geoffrey Chaucer, a British poet, wrote about St. Valentine’s as the saint of love in his poem “Parliament of Foules”. The 699-line poem describes a dream where a flock of birds debate who they should take as mates. The poem ends with the birds welcoming in spring after failing to agree on who they should mate with. This poem and the fact that the 14^th of February marks the start of spring for many countries which coincides with mating season for birds led to people writing cards to their loved ones on the 14^th of February; including King Henry V, who hired writers to compose love letters to Catherine of Valois. This poem set the groundworks for St. Valentine being seen as a romantic figure in British and American culture.