by Lucy E. Zahnle

Created on: September 06, 2009

Love tokens in one form or another have been around since Roman times, although the sentiment they represent has not always been romantic. During the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a festival held in February in honor of Juno Februata, the goddess of feverish, or in Latin, febris, love, men and women drew lots to determine their romantic partners for the feast and for the entire year to come. Even though they might have met as strangers, during that one year, the partners spent as much time as possible with each other and exchanged tokens and gifts. Under the influences of Christianity, the festival eventually evolved from one of a primarily erotic and, to the early Church, scandalous nature into a celebration of the nobler aspects of love. In time, Lupercalia's name was changed to St. Valentine's Day.

During the Middle Ages, starting somewhere around the twelfth century, a knight fighting in tournaments might have received a favor from his lady as a token of love. This token could be a ribbon, a neck chain braided from the lady's hair, a belt, a ring, a banner, a veil, or the sleeve of a dress complete with lappets at the cuff, also known as a maunch, which the combatant attached to his helm.

However, the practice of granting love tokens was frowned upon by the medieval aristocracy because it called the lady's honor and respectability into question. In The Treasure of City Ladies by Christine de Pisan, the author went so far as to accuse 'knights and squires and all men' of 'pleading for love tokens from women and trying to seduce them.'

Another medieval form of favor, known as largesse, was indicative of the giver's respect and esteem rather than of romantic interest. Because largesse was a token of friendship, the gender of the givers and recipients was of little or no importance. A gift of largesse was usually something practical like arms, armor, or horses which the recipient might not be able to provide for himself. Such patronage could be considered the equivalent of corporate sponsorship today.

Love tokens were not only the province of the wealthy. From about the fifteenth century, young men from the poorer classes in rustic and maritime communities like the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Switzerland combined the practical with the romantic, giving their ladies humble gifts made precious by use of their time and talent. Out of shells, whalebone, walrus ivory, and hardwoods like sycamore and boxwood, they carved animals, costume figures, tableaus, and

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