Tag Archives: Lupercalia

Happy Valentine’s Day

14 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in Feasts

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320px-Les_Très_Riches_Heures_du_duc_de_Berry_février

Février, Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

Today is Valentine’s Day: la Saint-Valentin. My best wishes to all of you. ♥

I have written several posts on Valentine’s Day and did some research again yesterday. This time, I read Wikipedia’s entry on Valentine’s day in which it is stated that there is no link between Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day. Lupercalia was replaced by Candlemas. As for Valentine’s Day, a celebration of Romantic love, it was all but invented by Chaucer who called the day “seynt” Valentine’s Day.

When Chaucer was released from captivity, during the Hundred Years’ War, he took to England the French Roman de la Rose, a work of literature that epitomizes courtly love. However, it was an exchange. Charles d’Orléans, who was detained in England for 25 years during the Hundred Years’ War, took to France the lore of Valentine’s Day as it existed in England and a large number of his poems refer to Valentine. According to the legend, as expressed by Chaucer, birds mate on 14 February.

In The Parlement of Foules (1382), Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

[“For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”]

Candlemas

So let us make matters clear. It is reported that Pope Saint Gelasius I (494–96 CE) wanted to replace a raucous pagan feast, Lupercalia (from lupus, wolf), with a Christian feast. Lupercalia became the feast of the Purification of the Virgin, but it also commemorated the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Meeting of the Lord, when Simeon’s wish came true, Simeon was an old man who wanted to see Jesus before he died and, having seen Jesus, said that he could now leave. His words are the words of a canticle (un cantique), a song of praise and joy, entitled the “Nunc Dimittis.” The new feast was Candlemas, which  was celebrated on 2 February. Here is a list of feasts associated with Candlemas:

  • the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin
  • the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
  • the Meeting of the Lord (see Simeon, Gospel of Luke, Wikipedia)

Note, however, that the above-mentioned feasts are called Candlemas, la Chandeleur, which suggests a possible festival of lights. From the most remote and pagan antiquity, humans have always celebrated the degree of light and darkness from season to season. Carnival season is now over. It ended on Ash Wednesday, the 10th of February, the day after Mardi Gras, a day of revelry and merriment.

Easter: the moveable feast

  • near the vernal equinox

Our next feast is Easter, which is celebrated near the vernal equinox (equal night), a day when night and day are approximately the same length. This year, the vernal equinox is 20 March and Easter, a moveable feast, will be celebrated on 27 March. But there is more light today than on Christmas day, the day of the longest night. On 14 February, we therefore celebrate Valentine’s Day because the days are getting longer.

St Valentine’s Day

  • Valentine’s Day and the Ides of February
  • Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day

So Valentine’s Day, a feast honouring a St Valentine (la Saint-Valentin), did not replace Lupercalia, but Lupercalia was a fertility ritual and Valentine’s day, the day on which birds mate. There is a link. Moreover, the Ides of February, which fell on 13 February, were Lupercalia. (See Lupercalia, Wikipedia.) The better-known Ides are the Ides of March, “the 15th day of the Roman month of Martius[,]” a day associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar who developed the Julian Calendar. (See The Ides of March, Wikipedia.)

The Gregorian Calendar: the Ides of February

The Julian Calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar, because feasts, Easter in particular, no longer matched the seasons. Gregorian refers to Pope Gregory XIII and the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in 1582. Candlemas, which replaced Lupercalia, would be celebrated on 2 February, but the Ides of February remained the middle of the month of February which is when Valentine’s Day is celebrated.àhere’s another link.

Gregory_XIII

Pope Gregory XIII by Lavinia Fontana (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Circle_of_Adam_Elsheimer_The_Lupercalian_Festival_in_Rome

The Lupercalian Festival in Rome (ca. 1578–1610), drawing by the circle of Adam Elsheimer, showing the Luperci dressed as dogs and goats, with Cupid and personifications of fertility. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Saint Valentine’s Day is listed on a page entitled: Posts on Love Celebrated. I have made one small change to make sure Lupercalia is linked to Candlemas, la Chandeleur and Valentine’s Day to its proper sources: a martyr, a legend, the festivities associated with Februarius and, perhaps, the Ides of February, that could not be moved to 2 February or Candlemas but could be the day when St Valentine’s Day was celebrated.

800px-Sousse_mosaic_calendar_February

The Soussa Mosaic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Februarius panel from the 3rd-century mosaic of the months at El Djem, Tunisia (Roman Africa)

Seasons, months (see Roman calendar, Wikipedia), darkness, and light have long been celebrated in every culture. An eloquent example is the Soussa Mosaic. (See Februarius, Wikipedia.)

My very best wishes! ♥

Thomas Tallis: “If ye love me”

valentinesday-hanging-hearts

© Micheline Walker
14 February 2016
WordPress

From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day, cont’d

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Feasts

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Presentation_of_Christ_in_the_TemplePresentation of Christ in the Temple, from the Sherbrooke Missal c. 1310 – c. 1320
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Candlemas

Today is Candlemas, now better known as “grounhog day” or “pancake day.” When I was a child, Candlemas, la Chandeleur, was a religious holiday that was also a festival of lights: la fête des lumières. We didn’t know it was groundhog day, nor did we know it was pancake day. We lived in the very Catholic province of Quebec, which was then a priest-ridden province and is now, otherwise ridden.

However, times have changed. In Quebec, today is le jour de la marmotte and la fête des crêpes. Quebec has therefore caught up to the rest of the world. Apparently, Groundhog Day is a German tradition. (See Groundhog Day, Wikipedia.) Ironically , it could be that many Quebecers do not remember la Chandeleur, or Candlemas.

Candlemas commemorated and still commemorates:

  • the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
  • the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin
  • the Meeting of the Lord (see Simeon, Gospel of Luke, Wikipedia)

Saint Gelasius I

  • St Gelasius
  • a commemoration
  • the seasons

We owe Candlemas to Pope Gelasius I who died in Rome on the 19 November c. 496 CE and is now a saint. Saint Gelasius wanted to replace Lupercalia, a disorderly pagan feast with a Christian feast, celebrated about 12 days later than 2 February. It was Candlemas, which eventually would take place on 2 February, according to the Gregorian calendar. Most Christian feasts are celebrated on the same day as a pagan feast and they inaugurate or close a season, the four seasons and liturgical seasons.

Humans have also celebrated the day of the longest night, the winter Solstice, and the day of the longest day, the summer Solstice. They have also celebrated the days when day and night are the same length: equinoctial points, or an Equinox.  This is the logic according to which Christian feasts are celebrated. It is a matter of season and one of continuity.

In 2016, solstices and equinoctial points are on:

Christmas is celebrated on 25 December, near the winter Solstice.
Easter is a movable feast, near the spring Equinox, 27 April 2016.
St John’s Day is celebrated on 24 June, near the summer Solstice.
Michaelmas is celebrated on 29 September, near the fall Equinox.

Easter is the only movable feast, but it occurs near the vernal equinox. As for Candlemas, it is celebrated on 2 February and is a festival of lights or la Fête des lumières. It closes Epiphany Season and introduces a new Marian antiphon: Ave, Regina Cælorum, of which there are four. Moreover, it is the day when the canticle entitled Nunc Dimittis (Now let me leave) is sung. Antiphons are call and respond songs: a responsory, but canticles are songs of praise, such as the Magnificat.

Beginning today the Marian antiphon is the Ave Regina Cælorum. It will last until Good Friday.

800px-Aert_de_Gelder_-_Het_loflied_van_Simeon
Simeon’s Song of Praise by Aert de Gelder,
around 1700–1710 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Canticle of Simeon or the Nunc Dimittis

According to the book of Luke (Luke 2:29-32), Simeon, a devout Jew, had been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would see the Saviour before his death. He recognized Jesus when he was brought to the Temple for the ceremony of the Presentation of the first-born son. Having seen Jesus, a Jew, with his own eyes, he sang a canticle in which he says that now (nunc) he could leave: “Now let me leave…”

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Book of Common Prayer, 1662

Houghton_MS_Richardson_5_-_92
The Houghton ms Richardson, Harvard (c. 1400)

The Ave, Regina Cælorum is as follows:

Hail, O Queen of Heaven enthroned.
Hail, by angels mistress owned.
Root of Jesse, Gate of Morn
Whence the world’s true light was born:

Glorious Virgin, Joy to thee,
Loveliest whom in heaven they see;
Fairest thou, where all are fair,
Plead with Christ our souls to spare.

V. Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thine enemies.

(See Raphael & Marian Liturgy at Notre-Dame de Paris)

Tides

There are equinoctial tides that occur near the time of an equinox. In France, they are called marées d’équinoxe. They were spectacular where I lived in Normandy. One could not see the water from the shore. When the water returned, it did rapidly. Sheep grazed on the prés salés (salted meadows), called présalés, at Mont-Saint-Michel. It could be that the tides brought the salt. Before or after walking to the Abbey, we would eat crêpes. There was a lovely restaurant at the foot of the hill. Sometimes we drove to Saint-Malô to eat crêpes. Tides occurring on solstices are less dramatic than equinoctial tides.

The Christian seasons are also called “tides:” Christmastide, Epiphanytide, Eastertide, etc. Christianity has more seasons than nature’s four seasons. We are not entering a tide, but an Ordinary Time that will end on Ash Wednesday (10 February, this year) or Pentecost. (See Eastertide, Wikipedia.)

The RELATED ARTICLES, listed below, will lead you to all relevant posts and songs.

RELATED ARTICLES

Kindest regards to everyone. ♥

 


Presentation_of_Christ_in_the_Temple

© Micheline Walker
2 February 2016
WordPress

 

 

 

From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Feasts, Love, Myths

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Capitoline Wolf. Traditional scholarship says the wolf-figure is Etruscan, 5th century BC, with figures of Romulus and Remus added in the 15th century AD by Antonio Pollaiuolo. Recent studies suggest that the wolf may be a medieval sculpture dating from the 13th century AD.

Romulus and Remus suckling Lupa (Photo credit: Google Images)

This post was published in 2013.  My new post on Candlemas is a continuation of this older article.

The above image shows Romulus and Remus, born to Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia and the god Mars or the demi-God Hercules.  Amulius had seized power from his brother Numitor and had forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor’s daughter, to become a Vestal Virgin so she would not bear children.

After the birth of Romulus and Remus, Amulius threw the babies into the river Tiber and sent their mother to jail.  However, Romulus and Remus were saved by shepherds and fed by a she-wolf, Lupa, in a cave called Lupercal, perhaps located at the foot of Palatine Hill.  They were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd.

The feral twins killed Amulius when they learned about their mother, but Romulus killed Remus who wanted Rome founded on Aventile Hill rather than Palatine Hill.  Whence, the existence of Lupercus (from lupus: wolf), the Roman god of shepherds, and that of the Lupercalia, a yearly Roman festival honoring Lupa.

Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona.

Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lupercalia & Candlemas

In ancient Rome, the Lupercalia (Lupercus) took place between February 13th and 15th.  This “pagan” feast is sometimes associated with Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd, using the Gregorian calendar as opposed to the Julian calendar, called O.S., old style.  In the Gregorian calendar, feasts were celebrated about 12 days earlier, than in the Julian calendar. The Eastern Church reflects this discrepancy.

As we will see, there was a motivation to transform the Lupercalia into a Christian feast.  However, the Lupercalia endured until the 5th century CE and was celebrated beginning on the Ides of February, i.e. the 13th, ending two days later, on the 15th.

At the start of the Lupercalia, two goats and a dog were sacrificed.  Next, two young Luperci, members of a corporation of priests, were led to the altar and anointed with the blood of the sacrificed animals.  Luperci then dressed themselves in thongs, called februa, taken from skin of the of the sacrificed goats and dog and ran around the walls of the old Palatine city carrying thongs and striking the crowd.

Pancake Day or La fête des crêpes

Later, salt meal cakes prepared by the Vestal Virgins were burnt, which is interesting because in France, Candlemas, celebrated on 2nd February, is “la fête des crêpes” or Pancake Day and today, 12th February is International Pancake Day.  It would be my opinion that pan of pancakes is the pan of pots and pans, but would that it were the Pan of the “Greek god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs” (Pan, Wikipedia).

Pan’s Roman counterpart was Faunus.  But Pan protected the flocks from wolves, which would suggest that he was also the counterpart of Lupercus, the above-mentioned Roman god of shepherds who replaced an earlier god named Februus (see Lupercalia, Wikipedia).

A fourth-century Roman depiction of Hylas and the Nymphs, from the basilica of Junius Bassus

A fourth-century Roman depiction of Hylas and the Nymphs, from the basilica of Junius Bassus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Valentine’s Day

However, for our purposes, the ancient and “pagan” Lupercalia was a raucous event which Pope Saint Gelasius I (494–96) wanted to abolish.  Senators opposed him so he invited them to run nude themselves.  After a long dispute, Gelasius replaced the Lupercalia with a “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be observed on Candlemas.  It was a noble thought, but eventually a “pagan” feast arose, Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th of February, near the Ides of February.  According to Britannica, “[i]t came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[i]  That would be in Chaucer’s (born c. 1342/43 died 25 October 1400) lifetime.

The many Saints called Valentine

There was a St Valentine a convert and a physician, who may have restored the sight of his gaoler’s blind daughter.  According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, this Valentine was clubbed to death c. 270.  His feast day is the 14th of February.  However, there could be other beatified Valentines.  According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there are three saints named Valentine, one of whom would the bishop of Terni, formerly Interamna.  However, the Roman Martyrology recognizes only one St Valentine, a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia and whose feast day is the 14th of February. (See Saint Valentine, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

I will break here.  We have gone from the Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day and stumbled upon la fête des crêpes (2nd February) or Pancake Day, which is quite a journey.  Let us return to the Lupercalia.  Pope Saint Gelasius I did abolish disorderly “pagan” festival.  However, although there is at least one saint named Valentine, Valentine’s Day is very much as described in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.  It is a “relic” of a pagan feast celebrated in February that remains a celebration of love and friendship and a bit of a carnival.  In fact, not only is today, 12th February 2013, International Pancake Day, but it is also Mardi-Gras (Shrove Tuesday), which is the end of the carnival season.

Capitoline Wolf. Traditional scholarship says the wolf-figure is Etruscan, 5th century BC, with figures of Romulus and Remus added in the 15th century AD by Antonio Pollaiuolo. Recent studies suggest that the wolf may be a medieval sculpture dating from the 13th century AD

Capitoline Wolf, bronze, 13th and late 15th century CE or c. 500 – 480 BCE. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

______________________________
[i] “Valentine’s Day”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/858512/Valentines-Day>
 

—ooo—

composer: Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880)
piece: Barcarolle
performers:
Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978 in Maisons-Laffitte, France) countertenor
Natalie Dessay (19 April 1965, in Lyon) coloratura soprano
 

© Micheline Walker
12 February 2013
(revised: 2 February 2016)
WordPress

Valentine’s Day: Martyrs & Birds, 2nd edition

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Feasts, Literature, Love

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CUPID OR L'AMOUR MOUILLÉ, BY WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU (1825-1905)

Cupid or l’Amour mouillé, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) (Photo credit: Wikipaintings)

Valentine’s Day

Greek and Roman Antiquity

Love has long been celebrated. In ancient Greece, the marriage of Jupiter to Hera was commemorated between mid-January and mid-February. As for the Romans, in mid-February, they held the festival of the Lupercalia. According to Britannica, the Lupercalia was

[t]he festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery.[i]

At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I replaced the Lupercalia with a Christian feast, the “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be celebrated on the 2nd of February. It is said that, in 496, the Pope issued a decree that made the 14th of February the feast of at least one saint named Valentine. However, according to Britannica, “Valentine’s Day did not come to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[ii]

At any rate, the Lupercalia was eventually replaced by Saint Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th of February. The 14th of February is no longer a feast day in the Catholic Church. But it is a feast day in the Anglican Church. Moreover, Ireland and France have relics of St Valentine, Valentine of Terni in Dublin and an anonymous St Valentine in France.

Saints and Martyrs

There is conflicting information concerning saints named Valentine.  It would be my opinion that the only st Valentine we can associate with Valentine’s Day is the saint who slipped his jailor’s daughter a note worded “from your Valentine.”

In French, Valentine’s Day is still called la Saint-Valentin, which suggests that there is a saint and martyr named Valentin. In fact, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there may be three saints named Valentine:

  1. Valentine of Terni, the bishop of Interrama, now Terni, also a 3rd-century martyr buried on the Via Flaminia,
  2. a Valentine who suffered in Africa with several companions, and
  3. the Valentine who restored his jail keeper’s daughter’s sight and slipped her a note that read “From your Valentine,” the night before his martyrdom. If this Valentine is associated with Valentine’s Day, it is because of the note he slipped to his jail keeper’s daughter which read: “From your Valentine.” He would be our Valentine or St Valentine.

Valentine’s Day Cards: The Origin 

St Valentine, the third Valentine is mentioned, albeit inconspicuously, in Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. Moreover, the Roman Martyrology, “the Catholic Church‘s official list of recognized saints,” gives only one Saint Valentine, the martyr who was executed and buried on the Via Flaminia and whose feast day is 14th February. (Saint Valentine, Wikipedia.) This saint’s only link with St Valentine’s day is the note he slipped to his jailer’s daughter: “From your Valentine.” This note would be the origin of Valentine’s Day cards.

St Valentine was martyred about c. 270 CE, probably 269, by Roman emperor Claudius II Gothicus.[iii]  According to the emperor, married men were lesser soldiers.  This St Valentine could be Valentine of Rome. But it could also be that this Valentine, Valentine of Rome, is the same person as Valentine of Terni, a priest and bishop also martyred in the 3rd century CE and buried on the Via Flaminia. This view is not supported by the Encyclopædia Britannica.[iv]

If this saint is associated with Valentine’s Day, the note signed “From your Valentine” is the only link between a saint named Valentine and Valentine’s Day. The note constitutes the required romantic element.

The Romantic Element

Chaucer: the day birds mate
Le Roman de la Rose
tHE lADY AND THE uNICORN

As mentioned above, Saint Valentine’s Day was not the feast of lovers (i.e. people in love) until a myth was born according to which birds mated on February the 14th. This myth is probably quite ancient but it finds its relatively recent roots is Geoffrey Chaucer‘s (14th century) Parliament of Foules. Othon III de Grandson (1340 and 1350 – 7 August 1397) (Fr Wikipedia), a poet and captain at the court of England spread the legend to the Latin world in the 14th century. This legend is associated with the famous mille-fleurs, (thousand flowers) tapestry called La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn), housed in the Cluny Museum in Paris. Finally, Chaucer translated part of Le Roman de la Rose.

N.B. The first version of the Canterbury Tales to be published in print was William Caxton’s 1478 edition.  Caxton translated and printed The Golden Legend in 1483.

Dissemination


the Legend about birds mating
Othon III de Grandson
Charles d’Orléans
Chaucer: Roman de la rose

It would appear that Othon III de Grandson, our poet and captain, wrote a third of his poetry in praise of that tradition. Othon III de Grandson wrote:

  • La Complainte de Saint Valentin (I & II), or Valentine’s Lament,
  • La Complaincte amoureuse de Sainct Valentin Gransson (The Love Lament of St Valentine Gransson),
  • Le Souhait de Saint Valentin (St Valentine’s Wish),
  • and Le Songe Saint Valentin (St Valentine’s Dream). (See Othon III de Grandson [in French], Wikipedia.)

Knowledge of these texts was disseminated in courtly circles, the French court in particular, at the beginning of the 15th century, by Charles d’Orléans. At some point, Othon’s Laments were forgotten, but St Valentine’s Day was revived in the 19th century.

In short, St Valentine’s Day is about

  1. a martyr who, the night before his martyrdom, slipped a note to the lady he had befriended, his jailor’s blind daughter, signing it “From your Valentine.”
  2. It is about a legend, found in Chaucer‘s Parliament of Foules, according to which birds mate on the 14th of February.
  3. It is associated with an allegorical tapestry: La Dame à la licorne.
  4. It is about Othon III de Grandson (FR, Wikipedia), a poet and a captain who devoted thirty percent of his poetry to the traditions surrounding St Valentine’s Day.
  5. It is also about courtly love and, specifically, Le Roman de la Rose, part of which was translated into English by Geoffrey Chaucer.
  6. Finally, it is about Charles d’Orléans who circulated the lore about St Valentine in courtly circles in France.

There is considerable information in Wikipedia’s entry of St Valentine’s Day.  It was or has become a trans-cultural tradition.

RELATED ARTICLES

Happy Valentine’s Day

Folk Art Valentine, 1875

________________________

[i] “Valentine’s Day”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/858512/Valentines-Day>.

[ii] “Saint Valentine”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/622028/Saint-Valentine>.

[iii] “Claudius II Gothicus”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/120521/Claudius-II-Gothicus>.

[iv] “Saint Valentine”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/622028/Saint-Valentine>.

 
Andreas Scholl sings Dowland‘s “Flow my Tears”
 
   
cupidangel
© Micheline Walker
14 February 2012
14 February 2015
WordPress
 

From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Feasts, Love

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Capitoline Wolf. Traditional scholarship says the wolf-figure is Etruscan, 5th century BC, with figures of Romulus and Remus added in the 15th century AD by Antonio Pollaiuolo. Recent studies suggest that the wolf may be a medieval sculpture dating from the 13th century AD.

Romulus and Remus suckling Lupa (Photo credit: Google Images)

This is an older post, I am posting again, while I finish my new post on Candlemas.

The above image shows Romulus and Remus, born to Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia and the god Mars or the demi-God Hercules. Amulius had seized power from his brother Numitor and had forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor’s daughter, to become a Vestal Virgin so she would not bear children.

After the birth of Romulus and Remus, Amulius threw the babies into the river Tiber and sent their mother to jail. However, Romulus and Remus were saved by shepherds and fed by a she-wolf, Lupa, in a cave called Lupercal, perhaps located at the foot of Palatine Hill.  They were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd.

The feral twins killed Amulius when they learned about their mother, but Romulus killed Remus who wanted Rome founded on Aventile Hill rather than Palatine Hill. Whence, the existence of Lupercus (from lupus: wolf), the Roman god of shepherds, and that of the Lupercalia, a yearly Roman festival honoring Lupa.

Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona.

Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lupercalia & Candlemas

In ancient Rome, the Lupercalia (Lupercus) took place between February 13th and 15th.  This “pagan” feast is sometimes associated with Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd, using the Gregorian calendar as opposed to the Julian calendar, called O.S., old style. In the Gregorian calendar, feasts were celebrated about 12 days earlier, than in the Julian calendar. The Eastern Church reflects this discrepancy.

As we will see, there was a motivation to transform the Lupercalia into a Christian feast.  However, the Lupercalia endured until the 5th century CE and was celebrated beginning on the Ides of February, i.e. the 13th, ending two days later, on the 15th.

At the start of the Lupercalia, two goats and a dog were sacrificed. Next, two young Luperci, members of a corporation of priests, were led to the altar and anointed with the blood of the sacrificed animals. Luperci then dressed themselves in thongs, called februa, taken from skin of the of the sacrificed goats and dog and ran around the walls of the old Palatine city carrying thongs and striking the crowd.

Pancake Day or La fête des crêpes

Later, salt mealcakes prepared by the Vestal Virgins were burnt, which is interesting because in France, Candlemas, celebrated on 2nd February, is “la fête des crêpes” or Pancake Day and today, 12th February is International Pancake Day. It would be my opinion that pan of pancakes is the pan of pots and pans, but would that it were the Pan of the “Greek god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs” (Pan, Wikipedia).

Pan’s Roman counterpart was Faunus. But Pan protected the flocks from wolves, which would suggest that he was also the counterpart of Lupercus, the above-mentioned Roman god of shepherds who replaced an earlier god named Februus (see Lupercalia, Wikipedia).

A fourth-century Roman depiction of Hylas and the Nymphs, from the basilica of Junius Bassus

A fourth-century Roman depiction of Hylas and the Nymphs, from the basilica of Junius Bassus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Valentine’s Day

However, for our purposes, the ancient and “pagan” Lupercalia was a raucous event which Pope Saint Gelasius I (494–96) wanted to abolish. Senators opposed him so he invited them to run nude themselves. After a long dispute, Gelasius replaced the Lupercalia with a “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be observed on Candlemas. It was a noble thought, but eventually the “pagan” feast became Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th of February, near the Ides of February.  According to Britannica, “[i]t came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[i] That would be in Chaucer’s (born c. 1342/43, London?, England—died 25 October 1400, London) lifetime.

The many Saints called Valentine

There was a St Valentine a convert and a physician, who may have restored the sight of his gaoler’s blind daughter. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, this Valentine was clubbed to death c. 270. His feast day is the 14th of February. However, there could be other beatified Valentines. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there are three saints named Valentine, one of whom would the bishop of Terni, formerly Interamna. However,  Roman Martyrology recognizes only one St Valentine, a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia and whose feast day is the 14th of February. (See Saint Valentine, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

I will break here. We have gone from the Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day and stumbled upon la fête des crêpes (2nd February) or Pancake Day, which is quite a journey. Let us return to the Lupercalia.  Pope Saint Gelasius I did abolish disorderly “pagan” festival. However, though there is at least one saint named Valentine, Valentine’s Day is very much as escribed in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It is a “relic” of the Lupercalia. It is no longer the Lupercalia of old, but it remains a celebration of love and friendship and a bit of a carnival. In fact, not only is today, 12th February 2013, International Pancake Day, but it is also Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday), which is the end of the carnival season.

Capitoline Wolf. Traditional scholarship says the wolf-figure is Etruscan, 5th century BC, with figures of Romulus and Remus added in the 15th century AD by Antonio Pollaiuolo. Recent studies suggest that the wolf may be a medieval sculpture dating from the 13th century AD

Capitoline Wolf, bronze, 13th and late 15th century CE or c. 500 – 480 BCE. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

______________________________
[i] “Valentine’s Day”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/858512/Valentines-Day>
 

—ooo—

composer: Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880)
piece: Barcarolle
performers:
Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978 in Maisons-Laffitte, France) countertenor
Natalie Dessay (19 April 1965, in Lyon) coloratura soprano
 

© Micheline Walker
12 February 2013
WordPress

Valentine’s Day: Martyrs & Birds

14 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Literature, Love

≈ 77 Comments

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CUPID OR L'AMOUR MOUILLÉ, BY WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU (1825-1905)

Cupid or l’Amour mouillé, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) (Photo credit: Wikipaintings)

Valentine’s Day

Greek and Roman Antiquity
Lupercalia

Love has long been celebrated.  In ancient Greece, the marriage of Jupiter to Hera was commemorated between mid-January and mid-February.  As for the Romans, in mid-February, they held the festival of the Lupercalia.  According to Britannica, the Lupercalia was

[t]he festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery.[i]

At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I replaced the Lupercalia with a Christian feast, the “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be celebrated on the 2nd of February.  It is said, however, that, in 496, the Pope issued a decree that made the 14th of February the feast of at least one saint named Valentine.  However, according to Britannica, “Valentine’s Day came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[ii]

Lupercalia was eventually replaced by Saint Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th of February.  The 14th of February is no longer a feast day in the Catholic Church.  But it is a feast day in the Anglican Church.  Moreover, Ireland and France have relics of St Valentine, Valentine of Terni in Dublin and an anonymous St Valentine in France.

Saints and Martyrs

There is conflicting information concerning saints named Valentine.  It would be my opinion that the only St Valentine we can associate with Valentine’s Day is the saint who slipped his jailor’s daughter a note worded “From your Valentine.”

In French, Valentine’s Day is still called la Saint-Valentin, which suggests that there is a saint and martyr named Valentin.  In fact, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there may be three saints named Valentine:

  1. Valentine of Terni, the bishop of Interrama, now Terni, also a 3rd century martyr buried on the Via Flaminia,
  2. a Valentine who suffered in Africa with several companions and the
  3. Valentine who restored his jail keeper’s daughter’s sight and slipped her a note that read “From your Valentine,” the night before his martyrdom.
  4. If this Valentine is associated with Valentine’s Day, it is because of the note he slipped to his  daughter.  This saint would be Valentine of Rome, our St Valentine

Valentine’s Day Cards : Origin

Valentine of Rome, is mentioned, albeit inconspicuously, in Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend.  Moreover, the Roman Martyrology, “the Catholic Church‘s official list of recognized saints,” gives only one Saint Valentine, the martyr who was executed and buried on the Via Flaminia and whose feast day is February 14th. (Saint Valentine, Wikipedia.)  This saint’s only link with St Valentine’s day is the note he slipped to his jailer’s daughter.  This note would be the origin of Valentine’s Day cards.

St Valentine was martyred about c. 270 CE, probably 269, by Roman emperor Claudius II Gothicus.[iii]  According to the emperor, married men were lesser soldiers.  This St Valentine could be Valentine of Rome.  But it could also be that this Valentine, Valentine of Rome, is the same person as Valentine of Terni, a priest and bishop also martyred in the 3rd century CE and buried on the Via Flaminia.  This view is not supported by the Encyclopædia Britannica.[iv]

However, as I mentioned above, if this saint is associated with Valentine’s Day, the note signed “From your Valentine” is the only link between a saint named Valentine and Valentine’s Day.  The note constitutes the required romantic element.

The Romantic Element

The Lady and the Unicorn
Chaucer: the day birds mate 

As mentioned above, Saint Valentine’s Day was not the feast of lovers (i.e. people in love) until a myth was born according to which birds mated on February the 14th.  This myth is probably quite ancient but it finds its relatively recent roots is Geoffrey Chaucer‘s (14th century) Parliament of Foules.  Othon III de Grandson (1340 and 1350 – 7 August 1397) [in French], a poet and captain at the court of England, spread the legend to the Latin world in the 14th century.  This legend is associated with the famous mille-fleurs (thousand flowers) tapestry called La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn), housed in the Cluny Museum in Paris.

N.B. The first version of the Canterbury Tales to be published in print was William Caxton’s 1478 edition.  Caxton translated and printed The Golden Legend in 1483.

Dissemination

Birds mating on 14th February
Othon III de Granson
Charles d’Orléans

It would appear that Othon III de Grandson, our poet and captain, wrote a third of his poetry in praise of that tradition.  He wrote:

  • La Complainte de Saint Valentin (I & II), or Valentine’s Lament,
  • La Complaincte amoureuse de Sainct Valentin Gransson (The Love Lament of St Valentine Gransson),
  • Le Souhait de Saint Valentin (St Valentine’s Wish),
  • and Le Songe Saint Valentin (St Valentine’s Dream). (See Othon III de Grandson [in French], Wikipedia)

Knowledge of these texts was disseminated in courtly circles, the French court in particular, at the beginning of the 15th century, by Charles d’Orléans.  At some point, Othon’s Laments were forgotten, but St Valentine’s Day was revived in the 19th century.

In short, St Valentine’s Day is about

  1. a martyr who, the night before his martyrdom, slipped a note to the lady he had befriended, his jailor’s blind daughter, signing it “From your Valentine.”
  2. It is about a legend, found in Chaucer‘s Parliament of Foules, according to which birds mate on the 14th of February.
  3. It is associated with an allegorical tapestry: La Dame à la licorne.
  4. It is about Othon III de Grandson (FR, Wikipedia), a poet and a captain who devoted thirty percent of his poetry to the traditions surrounding St Valentine’s Day.
  5. It is also about courtly love and, specifically, Le Roman de la Rose, part of which was translated into English by Geoffrey Chaucer.
  6. Finally, it is about Charles d’Orléans who circulated the lore about St Valentine in courtly circles in France.

There is considerable information in Wikipedia’s entry of St Valentine’s Day. It was or has become a trans-cultural tradition.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Folk Art Valentine, 1875

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[i] “Valentine’s Day.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/858512/Valentines-Day>.

[ii] “Saint Valentine.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/622028/Saint-Valentine>.

[iii] “Claudius II Gothicus.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/120521/Claudius-II-Gothicus>.

[iv] “Saint Valentine.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/622028/Saint-Valentine>.

 
Andreas Scholl sings Dowland‘s “Flow my Tears”
 
   
cupidangel
© Micheline Walker
14 February 2012
WordPress