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Did the Pagan belief about birds mating on February 14th lead to the association of St. Valentine with lovebirds?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
The main stories which have led to the association of St. Valentine with "love" birds, are that of a roman festival, bird's mating habits, the "real" Valentines, and a literary giant. All tangled up in the mix and resulting in the day we now celebrate as Valentine's Day.
In ancient Rome, there were many festivals held in and around February which were associated with fertility, the most notable of which is probably Lupercalia. The ancient Athenian calendar meanwhile, held that the period from mid January until mid-February was the month of Gamelion, the time when two of their most powerful Gods, Zeus and Hera, were married. During these festivities, many games were played, including the practise of putting girls names into a box, to be drawn out by a suitor whom she would partner with for the festival, and sometimes beyond. The first love notes!
Pope Gelasius I (492--496) later abolished the festivities however, believing them to be "too Pagan" and primitive. But in many places, the association between January/ February, and couplings remained, and February 14th was known as Lover's day.
How St. Valentine comes into the mix is the harder part, and historians have argued fiercely about it for centuries. There are many legends associated with him, including that he was a priest who defied a ban on marriages (the ruler at the time believed that marriage was causing a decline in men signing up to the army, as only single men could enrol) , and continued to perform ceremonies until he was put to death as a martyr on February 14th, Lover's day. While he was waiting for his execution, couples whom he had married brought him letters of sympathy stating how "love is better than war" - another possible 'love note' origin. Many years later, February 14th was named St. Valentine's day in honour of him.
And now to put the final piece of the puzzle in place!
The origin of the term "love birds" is most likely from a single literary occurrence. In 1382, the English poet, and author Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote a poem to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In it, he wrote the lines:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
Clearly influenced by the stories based around St. Valentines and February 14th love/ fertility legends, Chaucer unwittingly gave rise to the association of birds with Valentine's.
So what we have is a big old mess of stories, that over time have have merged into one - a bit like Chinese whispers. And that, is one interpretation of how St. Valentine's is linked to mating birds.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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