Valentine's Day
The origins of the modern Valentine’s Day are mostly legend. Legend has it St. Valentine was a priest who died defending marriage under a Roman emperor opposed to the practice. Legend has it the date was set to parallel the beginning of bird mating season. The clearest connection between St. Valentine and the celebration of romantic love surfaces in the Medieval work of Geoffrey Chaucer. In his Pariliament of Foules, Chaucer drafts his own legend: “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / When every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.”
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