Description

Jackie and Jen tackle the history of the holiday that, well, is more holy that holi...

Questions/comments/concerns/recommendations? Email us at raginromantics@nopl.org!

Books/primary sources we mention:

• Bede's Martyrologium
• Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) by Jacopo de Voragine
• The Parliament of Fowls by Chaucer (trans. by Kline, 2007)
• Poem by Charles, Duke of Orleans
• Howland Valentine example (Mtholyoke.edu)
• The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
• Gammer Gurton's Garland
• Romain de la poire
• Pucking Around by Emily Rath
• Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
• Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Other episodes:

• #82 Virginal myths
• #71 Chivalric love

Sources:

• "The dark origins of Valentine's Day" (Seipel, 2022)
• "Sts. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, Martyrs" ( Congregation Of The Sisters Of The Divine Redeemer, American Region, 2025)
• "Chapter 42 of the Golden Legend by Jacobus Voragine (1275), translated by William Caxton, 1483" (Christianiconography.info)
• "The Life of Claudius" (Historia Augusta, web, 2021)
• "What the mythical Cupid can teach us about the meaning of love and desire" (Christensen, 2022)
• "Amethyst" (huffmanjewelers.com)
• "The History of the Heart Shape" (Robinson, 2024)
• "Lupercalia" (history.com, 2024)
• "The Evolution of Valentine's Day" (Hohn, 2023)
• "The History & Mythology Of Amethyst" (Varianceobjects.com)
• "The Parlement of Foules" (britannica.com)
• "The First Valentine" (Petty, 2023)
• Esther Howland 1847 (MtHolyoke.edu, 2025)