Valentine’s Day between history and “courtly love”

February 14 is Valentine’s Day, the feast of lovers, a tradition that dates back to Roman times. To be exact, in 496 AD, when Pope Gelasius I put an end to the lupercalia, the ancient pagan rites dedicated to the god of fertility Luperco, which were celebrated on February 15 and included wild celebrations. All things, of course, openly in contrast with the morality and idea of ​​love of Christians. Thus Pope Gelasius I instituted the feast of lovers, anticipating it to February 14, the day dedicated to St. Valentine, who thus became the patron saint of lovers.
A position, that of patron saint of love, which was consecrated at the end of the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the “Tales of Canterbury”, when he wrote “The Parliament of Fowls”, a poem in 700 verses, in honor of the wedding between Richard II and Anna of Bohemia, in which Cupid is associated with Valentine’s Day and in which «courtly love» is celebrated once more, or rather the idea that only those who love have a noble heart.

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