Valentine's Day History
By:
Updated: January 12, 2011
Valentine's Day History
Every February we celebrate Valentine's Day by giving flowers, candy and cards
to those we love.
The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine.
The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer
in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese [choose] his make [mate].
This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. A treaty providing for a marriage was signed on May 2, 1381.
Every February we celebrate Valentine's Day by giving flowers, candy and cards
to those we love.
The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine.
The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer
in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese [choose] his make [mate].
This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. A treaty providing for a marriage was signed on May 2, 1381.
