Valentine’s Day is the ultimate celebration of love. The origin of this day of love is obscure; it is thought to be named after St. Valentine, a Roman priest, who lived during the time of the persecution of the early Christians. Valentine supposedly married young Christians when the government sought to prevent their marriage to stymie the growth of Christianity. All the information regarding the love-day is fable. Regardless of how Valentine’s day came to be celebrated by lovers, romance has existed since the beginning of time.
Marriage and love in feudal Europe presented some unusual customs and rituals which we do not experience in our modern world. If a vassal or bondman from a certain manor wanted to marry a woman from another manor, he had to give the lord of that manor a brass pan in compensation; and the pan had to be of such a size that the bride could sit in it without undue compression. That tradition was probably the result of a rich merchant that ordered too many large brass pans.
Witnesses to weddings often would hit one another to impress the occasion on their memories in case they might be called on to attest to the validity of the marriage. In Medieval times there were no formal records. Uncle Brun readily could remember the occasion of Attila and Matilda’s nuptials because , Aunt Maud broke his right jaw. The passing of the ring which symbolized the union in Medieval Europe is still a tradition today.
All Medieval dwellings were very cold. Lovemaking was possibly limited during the winter. When spring came, it roused people to a pagan frenzy. The sun shone and lusty blood flowed. Lovers took to the fields, freed from the crowded houses where whole families often lived. Most love poems were written in the spring; such the modern term, “spring fever.”
One tradition from the Middle ages that is still around today is the toast to love. All classes had access to some form of celebratory beverages. The nobility had wine, and the lower classes had beer and ale. I really believe that young peasants knew how the nobility’s wine was made; and I will wager that many a bottle was made and consumed in the spring fields during a lovers picnic. During the marriage ceremony the bride and groom toasted each other with the finest Medieval Chalices that were available. Glass was not readily available in Medieval Europe so silver, gold or pewter was used for the wedding toast. Often they were borrowed from the church.
Love is the most wonderful thing on the face of the earth, and it was the same during the Middle Ages. No one told them that they were living during depressed times; they believed that they were a very advanced society. Slow down and enjoy the celebration of love. Toast your lover, go on a picnic, propose, eat chocolate, smell the roses, write a poem of love and take a large brass pot to your beloved home and let her sit in it. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Are you expecting a magical gift from the love of your life or from the love of the moment? How do present day lovers compare with those true knights in shining armor? Was the Medieval male a passionate slave to his love or did he regard the woman of his life as his slave?
According to Belle Tuten, a renown Medieval historian, love and courtly love were very important in the life of the Medieval male. He explores the subject with the following description:
“ Medieval literature is full of stylized, “courtly” language speaking of love and desire. A suitor’s flowery prose expressed his hope of winning the lady of his choice. Courtly love poetry-frequently addressed to a woman who was completely out of reach-tolerated and may have even encouraged, love outside marriage, as in the stories of Guinevere and Lancelot and of Tristan and Iseult. There were also real-life examples: Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his Book of the Duchess(1369) for Blanche, duchess of Lancaster; at whose death he mourned the “siknesse (i.e. unrequited love) that I have suffred this eight yere.”
Such devotion could be taken to extremes. Ulrich von Lichtenstein, a noble Austrian who died around 1275, wrote a poem–partly fact and partly fiction–describing the activities of the perfect courtly lover. Among Ulrich’s extravagant gifts was one of his fingers, sent to his lady-love with a book of poems. He also underwent a dangerous operation to repair his harelip, hoping to appear more handsome for her even though they had never met. After he had camped outside her house for some time, the lady finally agreed to see him. But when he begged her for more than a greeting, she replied sternly: “Nay your courage may not aspire so far as that I should lay you here by my side . . .. My lord and master shall live ever free from fear lest I should love another man than he.”
There are many other examples of courtly love as practiced in Medieval Europe. We will explore some of those courts of the past in the next few days before the great day of “love.”