As today is Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share this extract from our Feast Days section, as well as looking at some historic Valentine’s letters…

Steve Roud, in The English Year, writes of how the origins of Valentine’s Day are “obscure” and that the romantic traditions associated with it have nothing to do with either of the martyrs believed to have been the St Valentine commemorated on this day.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in the 14th century of how birds would choose their mates on Valentine’s Day and this theme has been repeated in other pieces of literature. In John Lydgate’s 15th century poem, “A Valentine to her that Excelleth All”, he writes of how it was custom on Valentine’s Day for people to choose their love: