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Micheline's Blog

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Tag Archives: Saint Valentine

From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Feasts, Love, Myths

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Capitoline Wolf, Lupercalia, Rhea Silvia, Rome, Saint Valentine, Valentine, Valentine's Day, Vestal Virgin

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)

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 13th and 15th of February. This “pagan” feast is sometimes associated with Candlemas, celebrated on the 2nd of February. The Julian Calendar ceased to reflect the seasons, the degree of lightness or darkness, and was therefore replaced with the Gregorian 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 the pan of pancakes is the pan of pots and pans, but would that it were Pan 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 an event which Pope Saint Gelasius I (494–96) wanted to abolish. Senators opposed him, so he invited them to run nude themselves. Gelasius I  did not replace the Lupercalia, but a Christian feast would be celebrated on 2nd February, 40 days after Christmas. It would commemorate the “Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be observed on Candlemas. It was a noble thought, but Lupercalia was not replaced. However, a St Valentine would be commemorated, but other Valentines would be celebrated on Saint Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February which were the Ides of February. [i] According to Britannica, “[i]t came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[ii] 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. The fact remains that 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 may have abolished Lupercalia, but Lupercalia remained.  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. It should be noted that Epiphanytide, which beings on the 6th of January, ends on the 2nd of February, on Candlemas. As for Carnival season, it also begins on Epiphany, but it ends on Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday), a few days before Easter.

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)

RELATED ARTICLES

Posts on Love Celebrated, Page

Sources and Resources

St Valentines and the Ides of February
Beware the Ides of February,  Psychology Today

______________________________
[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

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Courtly Love or Fin’Amor

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Courtly Love

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

courtly love, France, Geoffrey Chaucer, Iseult, Ovid, Roman, Saint Valentine, Song of Songs, Tristan, Valentine's Day

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Trouvères and Troubadors

I was hoping to discuss Richard de Fournival’s Bestiaire d’amour FR (1201- ?1260) a medieval philosopher and trouvère (Northern French: langue d’oïl).  Trouvères (from trouveur: finder) were Northern France‘s counterparts for troubadours, who spoke in langue d’oc, from old Occitane French.  The trouvères and troubadours composed and sang songs associated with chivalry and the code of conduct of Knights, surprisingly consistent with the rules of courtly love.  They traveled from court to court but disappeared at the time the Black Death, but not necessarily because of the plague.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Although I will attempt to show a few illuminations from the Bestiaire d’amour, images are difficult to find.  Moreover, having reread the text, I believe we need a broader starting-point.  Richard de Fournival wrote a Bestiary, but it is a bestiary of love, courtly love.  Moreover, Master Richard’s Bestiary is allegorical as is the Roman de la Rose.  Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) who transformed Saint Valentine’s Day into the romantic feast it has become, translated part the Roman de la Rose as the Romaunt of the Rose and included his translation in his Legend of Good Women, a poem.

Two sources: Ovid and the “Song of Songs”

Courtly love is not a European institution.  It has deep roots, two of which are texts by Roman writer Ovid, best known for his Metamorphoses, as well as the Song of Songs, a book of the Old Testament also known in English as the Canticle of Canticles, written circa 900 BCE.

Courtly Love: Roman Antiquity

It would be difficult to trace the origins of courtly love.  I should think it constitutes a permanent feature of love, but a feature that finds pinnacles at certain points in history.  For instance, Roman poet Ovid, Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BCE – 18 CE), known mainly for his Metamorphoses, wrote:

  • Amores (Loves),
  • Heroides (The Heroines),
  • Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love),
  • Remedia Amoris (The Cure for Love).

The very title of Remedia Amoris suggests that once the lover is wounded by Cupid‘s arrow, he is possessed by love.  Love is viewed as a disease.  Such is the case with Tristan and Yseult (or Yseut, Iseult, Isolde…).  Tristan has to take Iseult to Cornwall where she will marry his uncle Mark.  As they are sailing from Ireland to Cornwall, she and Tristan mistakenly drink the love potion Yseult was to drink with Mark on their wedding night. Tristan and Yseult are now inescapably “in love” (l’amour fatal).  Yseult marries Mark, but on their wedding night, her maid, a virgin, sleeps with Mark.  As for Yseult, she spends the night with Tristan and sneaks back to her husband’s room in the morning.

The Celtic legend of Tristan and Yseult (EN) Tristan et Iseut (FR), was written in France, in a Norman language, by 12th-century Norman poet Béroul, and in Old French, by 12th-century British poet Thomas of Britain.  The story of Tristan and Yseult has exerted considerable influence on Western art.  Among other works, it inspired:

  • Arthurian romances, based on Geoffrey of Monmouth‘s Historia Regum Britanniae (1136);
  • Richard Wagner‘s Tristan und Isolde (c. 1865);
  • etc.

The Matter of Britain and the Matter of France: Mythologies 

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (1136) is a pseudohistorical account of British history, called the Matter of Britain, of which there remains 250 manuscripts.  It could be defined as a mythology evoking a Golden Age.  The Matter of France, featuring Charlemagne is also a mythology.  Its main poem, an epic poem, is La Chanson de Roland (FR) or Song of Roland (EN).

However, the quest of chivalric epic poems is a quest for the Holy Grail.  As for courtly love, its Holy Grail is the heart of a woman who has not swallowed a magical love potion and whose love her suitor must earn by following rules of conduct, as in chivalry.

(Please click on image to enlarge it.)

384px-Arthur_Beardsley_-_IsoldeFin’amor

Although it has deeper roots, fin’amor is an art of love developed in Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne and ducal Burgundy.  Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 or 1124 – 1 April 1204) is said to have brought the ethics of courtly love from Aquitaine to the Court of France.  She had first married Louis VII, king of France, but the marriage was annulled after the birth of their second daughter Alix de France

Aubrey Beardsley: Isolde, Jugendstil illustration in Pan, Berlin, 1899-1900

Fin’Amor’s Code

Courtly love was codified by Andreas Capellanus in his book entitled De amore, written in 1185 at the request of Marie de Champagne, Aleanor of Aquitaine’s first daughter, by Louis VII.  De amore has affinities with the Carte de Tendre, a French seventeenth-century allegorical map of love.  However, courtly love’s masterpiece is the Roman de la Rose.

My next post will therefore deal with the Roman de la Rose which we will examine using the Roman de la Rose Digital Library, a project of Johns Hopkins University, and La Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

László Czidra, Camerata Hungarica & Ars Renata

romandelarose-1© Micheline Walker
6 March 2013
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From Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Feasts, Love

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Capitoline Wolf, Lupercalia, Rhea Silvia, Rome, Saint Valentine, Valentine, Valentine's Day, Vestal Virgin

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

Micheline's Blog

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