First Valentine

After reading an overview of the Valentine holiday on history.com, I was intrigued that they had attributed the first Valentine to Charles the Duke of Orleans in 1415.  Charles was captured by the English after the Battle of Agincourt and sent to England to be imprisoned in the Tower of London.    There he wrote the following poem to his wife:

Original French	English
Je suis desja d’amour tanné, Ma tres doulce Valentinée, Car pour moi fustes trop tart née, Et moy pour vous fus trop tost né. Dieu lui pardoint qui estrené M’a de vous, pour toute l’année. Je suis desja, etc. Ma tres doulce, etc. Bien m’estoye suspeconné, Qu’auroye telle destinée, Ains que passast ceste journée, Combien qu’Amours l’eust ordonné. Je suis desja, etc.	I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine, Since for me you were born too soon, And I for you was born too late. God forgives him who has estranged Me from you for the whole year. I am already, etc. My very gentle, etc. Well might I have suspected That such a destiny, Thus would have happened this day, How much that Love would have commanded. I am already, etc.

*This original Valentine still exists in the British Library Manuscript collection.

Here is another source to explore this beloved holiday:
Love and Romance Through the Ages by the Virtual Museum of Canada