HTML version by Oleksandr Svirchevskyy

WHITE DAY OR THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY

F.SUBIGER, UNOG

In many traditions, the passing of the centuries highlights or initiates changes ; and it is to throw light on those changes that I have begun my research into the underlying origins of Valentine’s Day. From the very beginning, my investigation proved fascinating. So, let’s go back in time, to the 15th century of our era. An ancient Norman custom, partially revealed by Shakespeare, established that at the first sign of the mating of certain species of birds, lovers should announce their engagement, as a way to bring good luck. This Norman custom links birds and apple-trees, and it is thus in the shade of apple-trees that the young couples enjoy their first embraces. In that faroff time, the date of Valentine’s Day, after various changes and alterations to the calendar, was fixed at February 14th. In fact, it was Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 who was the author of these final adjustments. And from that same time, January 1st has corresponded exactly to the January 1st of our own day. So
much, then, for the origin of the date of Valentine’s Day. But it must be admitted that research to discover links with some custom of olden times has produced no result.
Norman custom described the young man who had become engaged on this occasion as a “gallant”. The word “gallant” was spelled in a variety of ways, in line with regional dialects ; the Académie Française was not created until the 17th century.
So, apples were offered to the girl who was to become engaged, even though she did not know when the young man was going to make his declaration of love.
Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465) followed this custom in his courtship of Marie de Clèves, when he was taken prisoner in 1415 and held captive by the English for a long time. When he returned from captivity, he married Marie de Clèves.
The character of Charles d’Orléans is certainly the historical source of this courtly spirit which has left its mark on lovers’ festival as we know it today. At this point in my narrative, may I mention an intriguing detail : the mother of Charles d’Orléans was called Valantine Visconti and she was the daughter of the Viscount of Milan. Here again, our researches in this direction have proved fruitless. Thus, half-way through our research, it seems clear that an historical source for the lovers’ festival does exist, because Shakespeare tells of it. But was there an older one ? Going back to the past, and perusing all that has been written about Valentine’s Day, one is led to conclude that the name Valentine was associated with this festival, nearly 200 years before Shakespeare spoke of it in Hamlet, or Ophelia sang :

To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day.
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose and donned his clo’es
And dupped the chamber door,
Let in the maid, that out a maid,
Never departed more.

So, since the Middle Ages, Valentine’s Day was celebrated in various places, it owes its popularity to readers of Shakespeare, and, later on, to those familiar withVictor Hugo’s translation :

Bonjour ! c’est la Saint-Valentin.
Tous sont levés de grand matin.
Me voici, vierge, à votre fenêtre,
Pour être votre Valentine.
Alors, il se leva et mit ses habits,
Et ouvrit la porte de sa chambre ;
Et vierge elle y entra,
et puis jamais vierge elle n’en sortit.

So there we have the contemporary source which eventually led to the festival as we know it. Victor Hugo later described it in some of his writings. At the start of the 20th century, Valentine’s Day spread to a large part of the European Continent. Florists, bakers, pastry-cooks, chefs and shop-keepers pledged a faithful allegiance to this new saint, with the date noted in all their diaries.
In 1958, Valentine’s Day was brought to Japan by a clothing company – but with a difference. On that day, it is the women, and only the women, who offer gifts to the men. Usually, these presents are boxes of chocolates, and, to a lesser extent, biscuits. It’s worth noting that in Japanese society, this is a good way of finding out how popular you are.

The men return the gifts they have received one month later, on March 14th. This day is called the “white day”. It was dreamed up by a marshmallow-maker, in 1960, and for this reason it was labelled “white”. Men can also make presents of sweets, as well as flowers.
But this marshmallow-maker perhaps did not know that according to the real tradition of this old custom, you had to offer a gift every month for a whole year, starting on March 14th.