Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP 5:00 a.m., February 14, 2024

Valentine's Day, the traditional celebration of lovers, takes place this Wednesday, February 14. On the occasion of this day popular with couples, Europe 1 looks at the origins of this tradition and why it takes place every year on February 14.

For some, this Wednesday February 14 will be synonymous with football, with the PSG match in the Champions League. For others, it will be fully devoted to his/her partner since, like every year, it is Valentine's Day, the day of lovers. “It is a well-attested tradition since the 14th century in England and the 15th century in France,” relates the historian Jean-Claude Bologne, who traces the contours of this festival on Europe 1.

Why the choice of February 14?

Originally, "it was Charles d'Orléans, prisoner in London, who was the first to talk about Valentine's Day in France", says the author of History

of the Couple

 (Perrin editions) and 

History of Love at First Sight

 (Albin Michel editions). Legend has it that he made the link between love and this saint because of his mother's first name, Valentine.

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Then comes the question of the date. "It is a fairly common tradition to associate lovers with spring and the awakening of nature. The tradition was that birds made their nests on February 14. It fell on the feast of a certain Valentine and we invented beautiful stories to justify the fact that Valentin becomes the patron of lovers. These are late reconstructions", underlines the historian at the microphone of Europe 1.

“An international fashion” for around fifty years

Jean-Claude Bologne adds that this celebration really became “a fashion” in England in the 19th century. Lovers used letters to express their feelings, and, continues the historian, "it was the opportunity to declare oneself when one was a little shy, when one did not dare to declare one's love to one or another. his partner. It's very recently that it has become a celebration for lovers of all ages."

Valentine's Day has become "an international fashion for around fifty years", and "a commercial celebration", concludes the historian, who evokes "the excesses of a romantic celebration".