[MR] BBC: Paston Letters "Valentine"

[Garth G. Groff]

Noble friends,

Today's BBC featured a very interesting story about what may be the 
first valentine, a 1477 letter from Margery Brews to John Paston, 
professing her love. It is a charming story about two people who really 
loved each other, but were prevented (for a time) from marrying by a 
disagreement between their respective parents over the dowry. This is 
just one of the hundreds of what are known as the "Paston Letters", a 
collection of personal correspondence spanning three generations, 
written between 1422 and 1509. And on top of all that, some additional 
Paston descendants have been discovered.

Many of the Paston letters, rendered in more modern English, have been 
published (with commentary) in a number of books. They provide a 
fascinating look at a rising middle-class family in the 15th century, 
doing ordinary domestic things, caught up in the Hundred Years War and 
the War of the Roses, plus trying to defend their newly-won status, 
lands and fortune from rapacious enemies under the protection of the 
Percy family. And woven into all this was the Paston's benefactor and 
protector, Sir John Fastolff (Shakespeare's FALLSTAFF, but deserving a 
better memory that what the Bard had to say). In spite of extensive 
study, it seems there is still a lot more to learn from this treasure trove.

So here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12419712

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir's Unofficial Librarian
(mka Garth Groff, Cataloger in the UVA Library system)