Valentines card
St Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient
Rome.
Of the one celebrated on February 14th nothing is known. His legend
tells of his martyrdom in AD 269 at the command of the Emperor
Claudius Gothicus but the church did not begin to celebrate him for
some 200 years after that.
It remains a mystery how Valentine was linked to love hearts and
choosing partners. His legend suggests one of the reasons for his
martyrdom was his openly persistent marrying of Christians. The
choosing of one?s love for the year may have been started by
Chaucer and his circle (the earliest known mention of the custom is
in two of Chaucer?s poems). A series of courtly love games follow
in subsequent years (including selecting names from a basket). If
you want to explore Valentines Day traditions further see the Virtual Museum of Canada.
In Perth we know that small tokens and letters were being sent
on St Valentine?s Day by the 1700s. None of the Valentines in the
museum collection are that early.
This hand coloured Valentine dates to about 1805 and is
particularly touching. On the back, in now very faded handwriting
is a letter sent by a lady on the 15th February to a man she only
addresses as ?Sir.? She tells him she is ?most desperately in
love? with him and begs him to meet her ?tomorrow?. She was
completely besotted ? but was he?
