The Valentine who stole more than a heart - Early Modern Valentine's Day celebrations in England and Scotland

Many of us think that, today, holidays have become too commercialized; the focus being on the material rather than the true meaning of the day. Valentine’s Day, it would seem, is no exception. No sooner is Christmas over than the aisles of shops become awash with pink and red plastic crap.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve been using MEMSO (www.tannerritchie.com/memso.php) to find interesting tweets for Twitter (where, incidentally, you can follow us @tannerritchie). Needless to say, given the extent of our catalogue, we’ve come up with some real gems – quite literally in the case for references to Valentine’s Day.

There are over 2600 hits to the word ‘Valentine’ in MEMSO. Most references, however, are Christian or surnames (Valentine Minge and Valentine Boyles are the ones that stick in one’s mind), names of ships, or references to the feast day itself, used to date letters, events, or payment terms etc. But hidden in and amongst these are some other references about how Valentine’s Day was celebrated in the Early Modern Period. And they seem to have set the bar pretty high in terms of the ‘bling’!!

In 1522, at the court of Henry VIII, the Spanish Ambassador reports the following to Charles V:

The young Mary Tudor, shown wearing her Valentine's badge, reading 'The Emperour' (public domain image)

"After dinner, at the tournament, we were presented by the cardinal [Wolsey] to the queen [Catherine of Aragon] and the princess Mary ... Catherine asked affectionately after you majesty’s health and the prosperity of your affairs, and said that nothing in the world so rejoiced her as to hear of your health and happiness. Then, after we had saluted the princess, she continued to question me not less sweetly than prudently, about your majesty, and there was much pleasant conversation, especially about the charms of the little princess, who, it should be noticed, wore on her bosom a golden brooch ornamented with jewels forming your majesty’s name, which name she had taken on St. Valentine’s Day for her valentine, which seems a happy augury."

Princess Mary was just shy of her sixth birthday at the time.

Anne Dacre, countess of Arundel, failing to look like anyone's idea of a fun Valentine. (Public domain image)

Giving jewelry seems to be one of the longstanding traditions of celebrating Valentine’s Day at the English Royal Court – and one which is still prevalent today, although in the Early Modern Period gifts of jewelry were given to both women and men. In 1558, for example, following the death of Queen Mary, Philip II compiled an inventory ‘of the jewels that lie in a coffer at Whitehall’. One entry refers to a ‘small necklace with thirteen roses, a garter and thirteen knots, as well as a small St. George, in a black velvet case’. Philip’s elaborated that ‘This was sent to me by the Countess of Arundel as a valentine.’

Another tradition at Court was the act of picking the name of one’s Valentine.

In 1618, the Venetian Ambassador wrote at length about how Valentine’s Day was celebrated by the upper echelons of English society, including at Court.

‘Any woman soever, however noble, even if she be married, fails not to have her valentine, and the men also have their valentines. They revel changes annually thus. On St. Valentine’s eve they place in two ballot boxes sundry tickets whereon are inscribed the names of the men and women of the company, each of whom draws a ticket in turn. Those thus coupled by chance unite together much more closely than if their love were loyal; they banquet together and exchange presents, each preserving the ticket which for some days the man wears in his hat and the woman in her bosom. They even have their names engraved in gold, the invariable rule being that the Valentine do kiss his lady whenever he meets her. Nor may this appear strange to your lordships, for the like style prevails at the court also without excepting the king [James I], the prince [Charles] and the queen [Anne of Denmark], whose hand alone is generally kissed.’

The ambassador concludes by writing, ‘Were it lawful for me to consign to paper certain other peculiarities which are usual among the middle and lower classes, I should astound you’. Ah, come on!!!!

Finally, there were several references to the giving of Valentines in the Register of the Privy Council for Scotland ... but these, however, were decidedly less romantic than their English counterparts. In 1561, for example, heads of the prominent families on the Scottish Border were summoned and appeared before Mary Queen of Scots and her Council. There, they ‘ressavit their valentinis of the names culpable of thift and utheris crymes, and wer chargit to apprehend and tak the samyn personis contenit in the saidis valentinis...’ Later in the 1570s, valentines, as letters containing names of persons to be apprehended, continued to be used in this way.

Well, whatever rocks your boat. Cheaper than jewelry.

So, whether it is the giving of expensive pieces of jewelry or the apprehension of criminals, the people of Early Modern England and Scotland certainly are a hard act to follow. The pink and red plastic crap doesn’t look so bad now.

Suggested reading:
Register of the Privy Council, Scotland, 3 series
Calendar of State Papers, Spain
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy