HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-03-04T14:50:36.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Lonely hearts and holiday flings: a brief history of dating
items: The real reason Jane Austen never married
items: Love: a weird & wonderful history
items: Who was Saint Valentine and was he real? A history of the figure's origins
items: 5 British castles with romantic histories
items: A history of Valentine's Day celebrations – from fertility festivals to the first cards
items: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: was their union a marriage of misery?
items: The marriages of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren: how the dynasty shaped Europe
items: 7 of the most memorable couples in history

Lonely hearts and holiday flings: a brief history of dating
type: item
date: 2026-02-13T15:39:00.000Z
creator: Nichi Hodgson
subject: 20th Century
subject: General Modern
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Valentine's Day
description: From calling cards and corsets to 'the pill' and the sexual revolution, we have always found inventive ways to find and further love. Nichi Hodgson, author of The Curious History of Dating: From Jane Austen to Tinder, takes us on a whistle-stop tour of courtship through history
encoded: When I first began writing about the history of dating, what struck me most was how similar the problems of today are to the 1930s, the 1840s, and even the 1780s. From worrying about a partner’s financial standing, or whether someone was going to stick around long enough for you to have children with them, to persuading your parents they are indeed a good fit, the means by which we go about finding love may have changed, but not the hopes, dreams and anxieties we’ve had about discovering it. In the Georgian era, for example, the advice was clear: looks matter but value them at the peril of your long-term happiness: “She, who, intoxicated with flattery, protracts the triumphs of her beauty in youth, may live to lament the barren spoils of it in age.” Indeed, throughout history, grooming and dressing as well as you possibly can has always been a better strategy than ruminating on what you don’t have. Victorian women wore dresses cut just above the nipples, with pearl necklaces draped lasciviously in their décolletage, while some Edwardian men favoured wearing corsets and delighted in the sensation of tight lacing. When the mini skirt was invented in the early 1960s, some men even tried it out, including 16-year-old trainee brick layer Tony Liggard whom the Daily Mail reported was convinced it would catch on among men. It didn’t – but long hair, floral patterns, make-up and jewellery all eventually did. So much for the myth that male grooming is a recent phenomenon! <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2019/02/2GettyImages-559574483-24ee5fb-e1770990862524.jpg" width="1499" height="1000" alt="A Victorian advertisement showing black and white sketches of men wearing corsets. Across the top is an address and an advert for Madame Dowding" title="Some Victorian and Edwardian men experimented with wearing corsets, as this 1899 advertisement reveals (Image by Getty Images)" /> Once you were suitably styled, you needed to get a date’s attention.…

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The real reason Jane Austen never married
type: item
date: 2025-02-05T08:30:29.000Z
creator: David Lassman
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Jane Austen's literary heroines famously enjoyed romantic wedded bliss, yet Austen herself remained unmarried all her life. Here, expert David Lassman asks why…
encoded: One of the greatest writers in the English language, Jane Austen (1775–1817) is famed for her works of romantic fiction including Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Her present-day popularity derives chiefly from the fact her heroines, although two centuries old, act as romantic beacons for the modern age. With a universal message of marrying for love rather than money, they provide examples, albeit fictional, of women choosing husbands due to strings of the heart and not of the purse. If the old adage ‘write what you know’ is applied to Austen’s writing, then she should have had one of the happiest marriages in the history of matrimony. But here lies the paradox. One of the supreme purveyors of romantic love in English literature, and the creator of numerous blissful couplings in print, never took her own trip down the aisle. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2019/06/GettyImages-566460025-283185a-e1738752000230.jpg" width="620" height="412" alt="The National Portrait Gallery attributed this unfinished portrait to Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra, and dated it to circa 1810." title="The National Portrait Gallery attributed this unfinished portrait to Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra, and dated it to circa 1810." /> The whitewashing of Jane's public persona began almost immediately after her death in 1817 with the autobiographical note her brother, Henry, wrote to preface the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. This meant that the question as to why this was so never really entered the equation. The mere fact that Jane did not find a Mr Darcy in real life and so lived – it seemed – as a virtuous Christian ‘spinster’ was enough to satisfy Victorian curiosity. By the middle of the 20th century, however, this somewhat distorted view of the now much-admired and studied author began to be challenged. Literary critic QD Leavis protested in 1942, for example, against t…

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Love: a weird & wonderful history
type: item
date: 2024-02-14T04:22:05.000Z
creator: Charlotte Hodgman
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Edward Brooke-Hitching traces the story of love down the centuries, through a host of fascinating and often bizarre objects and stories
encoded: From prehistoric carvings and medieval spell books to grand romantic gestures and tokens of affection, throughout history there has been no shortage of ways to say those three little words. Speaking to Charlotte Hodgman, Edward Brooke-Hitching shares some incredible, and curious, stories of love through time – from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern day. View Green Video on the source website

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Who was Saint Valentine and was he real? A history of the figure's origins
type: item
date: 2024-02-13T10:06:00.000Z
creator: Professor Lisa Bitel
subject: Ancient Greece
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Victorian
subject: Trends-Anniversary
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Valentine’s Day has been big business since the mid-19th century, when American merchants and printers transformed a religious folk tradition into a modern holiday. But, says Professor Lisa Bitel, few realise that the holiday began as a Christian feast day commemorating an ancient martyr named Valentinus. Here, she considers the real historical candidates for the figure who came to be the patron saint of love…
encoded: Practically everyone in the English-speaking world knows about Valentine’s Day. Celebrants buy more chocolates, flowers and jewellery on 14 February than on any other day of the year and only Christmas occasions more greeting cards. So what is the history behind this commercial celebration? What is Saint Valentine the patron saint of? Catholics still regard Valentine as the patron saint of engaged couples; happy marriages; love; and lovers. Yet a patron saint of love and lovers is not exactly compatible with Christian doctrine, which has always emphasised the joys of self-denial. Celibacy has been a requirement for priesthood since the Middle Ages, and virginity won sainthood for hundreds of women. Therefore, a saint who sponsors the exchange of candy and kisses between lovers seems doctrinally dubious. So where did this saint come from, and how did he become the impresario of sweethearts? Who was the real Saint Valentine? If you consult Wikipedia or Catholic Encyclopedia, or more popular digital publications such as Buzzfeed and History.com, you will read that Valentine lived in the third century, was either a priest or a bishop in Rome, and was jailed by the Roman emperor for being a Christian in the period when the religion remained illegal. Catholic news sites claim that Valentine’s crime was performing marriage rites for Christian lovers; alternatively, some say he carried messages between jailed Christians and, before he was executed, left a letter to a young woman signed “your Valentine”. But if you dig a bit deeper to read the ancient documents, another Valentine appears. In fact, it turns out there were quite a few Valentines in the Roman Empire. The name was popular among Christians and others because it means ‘powerful’ or ‘worthy’. It seems that three different martyrs named Valentinus died on 14 February during the reign of Emperor Claudius Gothicus (r268–270); none of whom married Christian couples or carried messages between jailed Christians. One was…

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Love: a weird & wonderful history
type: item
date: 2024-02-07T07:31:19.000Z
creator: Charlotte Hodgman
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Edward Brooke-Hitching traces the story of love down the centuries, through a host of fascinating and often bizarre objects and stories
encoded: From prehistoric carvings and medieval spell books to grand romantic gestures and tokens of affection, throughout history there has been no shortage of ways to say those three little words. Speaking to Charlotte Hodgman, Edward Brooke-Hitching shares some incredible, and curious, stories of love through time – from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern day. Edward Brooke-Hitching is the author of Love: A Curious History (Simon & Schuster, 2023) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon Buy now on Waterstones

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5 British castles with romantic histories
type: item
date: 2023-02-14T12:00:08.000Z
creator: Rachel Dinning
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Valentine's Day
subject: Video shorts
description: We've rounded up five British castles with thoroughly romantic histories – from the site of Robert Dudley's lavish three-week proposal to Elizabeth I, to a 'castle' literally built for love…
encoded: Looking for somewhere to visit for Valentine’s Day? Why not explore one of these British castles… Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire Where Robert Dudley attempted to woo Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth I never took a husband – but it certainly wasn’t through a lack of effort from the men in her life. She had dozens of suitors over the years, from Philip II of Spain to Archduke Charles of Austria. The queen’s long-time favourite, Robert Dudley, went to particularly spectacular lengths to woo the Virgin Queen. In July 1575, he embarked on a mammoth three-week proposal at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire – coming “closer than any other to making Elizabeth his wife”, according to historian Elizabeth Goldring. Read more | The history of Valentine's Day The Kenilworth proposal was Dudley’s final attempt at winning Elizabeth, following almost 15 years of trying. Over three weeks, Dudley entertained the queen and her staff with diversions ranging from music, masques and dancing to tilting, hunting and bear-baiting. The entire affair cost Dudley a small fortune, with building works alone setting him back around £60,000. Although he didn’t succeed in winning the queen’s hand in marriage, the festivities have gone down as being “the longest, most expensive party” of Elizabeth’s 44-year reign. Oxford Castle, Oxfordshire Where a pregnant wife saved her husband’s life When political revolutionary John Lilburne was imprisoned in Oxford Castle in 1642, it was his pregnant wife who came to his rescue. Lilburne was the leader of the Levellers, a radical political movement prominent during the Civil Wars of the mid-17th century. He was constantly in conflict with the authorities; in 1638, for example, he was fined, whipped, imprisoned and pilloried for illegally smuggling Puritan pamphlets into England. Read more | How to write a love letter: 6 tips from the historical figures who did it best Following the outbreak of the first Civil War between King Charles I and parliament, he was arreste…

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A history of Valentine's Day celebrations – from fertility festivals to the first cards
type: item
date: 2022-02-12T09:06:00.000Z
subject: General History
subject: General Modern
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Stuart
subject: Victorian
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Valentine's Day has become one of the key dates on the commercial calendar, but behind it lies a fascinating history that can be traced back to ancient Rome. Cultural historian Anna Maria Barry investigates why this annual celebration of love is anything but modern...
encoded: When was Valentine’s Day first celebrated? From 13 to 15 February, ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. Many believe that the origins of Valentine’s Day can be traced back to this ancient fertility festival. To mark the occasion Roman men sacrificed goats before using their skins to whip women in the belief that this would make them fertile. Some historians have argued that at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I declared 14 February to be Valentine’s Day in an attempt to reclaim this festival from the Romans and Christianise it. It’s not clear which Saint Valentine this day was initially dedicated to, as two saints with this name share the feast day of 14 February. Both of these saints were martyred in Rome; Valentine of Terni in around AD 197 and Valentine of Rome in around AD 496. Read more | In bed with the Romans: a brief history of sex in Ancient Rome Many legends have been recorded about the latter St Valentine, but these are most likely apocryphal. These include the story that Valentine himself fell in love with his jailor’s daughter while incarcerated for giving aid to prisoners. According to this tale, St Valentine wrote his inamorata a note signed “from your Valentine”: the first Valentine’s greeting. However, while this fanciful story is compelling, it is unlikely to be true. The next milestone in the history of Valentine’s Day came in 1382, when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his poem Parlement of Foules. This poem contains what is widely reported to be the first recorded instance of St Valentine’s Day being linked to romantic love. This reference can be found in the lines: For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery foul comyth there to chese his make. Not everyone agrees that Chaucer was referring to 14 February here, however. Some have argued that he was instead talking of May time, when birds are more likely to mate in England. This coincides with the feast of St Valentine of Genoa, which also falls in May. Nevertheless, the story o…

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: was their union a marriage of misery?
type: item
date: 2021-01-15T05:05:00.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: British queens
subject: Evergreen
subject: Valentine's Day
description: Queen Victoria married her husband of 21 years, Prince Albert, on 10 February 1840 in St James’s Palace chapel, in what was the first marriage of a reigning queen of England since Mary I in 1554. To the outside world, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were the golden couple, exemplars of traditional family values. Yet, as Jane Ridley reveals, behind the romanticised veneer, Albert's thirst for power was putting the marriage under intense pressure…
encoded: After the sudden and tragic death of Prince Albert in 1861, the grief-stricken Queen Victoria dedicated herself to memorialising her marriage as a perfect union. She herself composed large parts of the first biography, The Early Years of the Prince Consort (1867). At Frogmore, the royal burial ground at Windsor, she built a mausoleum and commissioned the sculptor Marochetti to create effigies of herself and the prince lying side-by-side – though it would be another 40 years before she would take her place beside her beloved Albert. Thanks, in part, to the queen’s efforts, her marriage to Albert, prince of the German duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, came to be seen as one of the great love matches of all time, celebrated (with varying degrees of accuracy) in films such as The Young Victoria and, more recently, the ITV drama Victoria. As Queen Victoria’s journal shows, from the moment she saw the prince arriving at the foot of the staircase at Windsor in 1839, she was smitten. Five days later she summoned him to her blue closet and proposed to him. But the marriage was not the romantic happy-ever-after story that Victoria constructed. It was far more complex than that. Why did Victoria and Albert marry? Like all dynastic marriages, this was an alliance with a political agenda. As the second son of a minor German duke (Coburg is smaller than the Isle of Wight) and a mere Serene Highness, the lowest grade in the royal hierarchy, Prince Albert was Victoria’s poor relation, although the two were first cousins. But what he lacked in rank and wealth, he made up for with education and self-confidence, and he had been trained from his teens by King Leopold of Belgium, the cousins’ mutual uncle, to marry Victoria and take over the British throne. Listen to a recorded version of this article: Albert began his quest for power immediately after the marriage. Within months he had moved his writing desk next to the queen’s. At first, Victoria resisted Albert’s attempts to remove her…

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The marriages of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren: how the dynasty shaped Europe
type: item
date: 2020-09-14T09:29:40.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Edwardian
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: British queens
subject: Royal children
subject: Valentine's Day
description: With more than 30 grandchildren growing up in palaces across the continent, Queen Victoria long understood the importance of dynastic marital alliances to extend royal influence. Writing for HistoryExtra, historian Deborah Cadbury examines Queen Victoria’s remarkable European vision and the marriages of her crowned descendants...
encoded: Today’s European Union, and its predecessor the European Economic Community (EEC), formed in 1957, emerged from the crucible of two world wars. But a century before that, there was another dream of European unity, born out of the ravages of the Napoleonic Wars in which up to 6 million people lost their lives. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a plan that they hoped might play a part in steering Europe from a potential battlefield to a haven of peace and prosperity. After the Napoleonic Wars, British foreign policy aimed to achieve a balance of power in Europe; no single country should become sufficiently dominant to unleash such destruction across the continent ever again. In the mid-19th century, Prince Albert and Queen Victoria believed that dynastic marriages between their nine children and European royalty would provide a further safeguard. Each marriage was a form of soft power: a path to help spread British liberal values across the continent, and perhaps even push back against the destabilising forces of republicanism, revolution and war. Prince Albert glimpsed the possibility of a federal Europe, in which a series of strong, independent countries, stable under their own constitutional monarchies (and ideally modelled as closely as possible on the British constitution), could be united by common goals and interests. Victoria and Albert: a marriage of misery? Their grand scheme began to take shape in the autumn of 1855, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert invited the handsome second heir to the Prussian throne, Prince Frederick, to Balmoral. Although their beloved oldest daughter, Vicky, was just 14, they had long planned a great dynastic marriage for her. “Fritz” was looking very “manly”, the queen confided to her diary on 15 September, and she found the visit “makes my heart beat… as it probably will decide the fate of our dear eldest child”. Sure enough, the romantic feelings of their daughter obligingly developed over a two-week courtship to mirror Al…

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7 of the most memorable couples in history
type: item
date: 2020-09-12T03:05:00.000Z
creator: Emma Mason
subject: General Modern
subject: Period
subject: Medieval kings and queens
subject: Valentine's Day
description: History is full of extraordinary couples. Some are remembered for their long-lasting romances, while others are defined by their tragic downfalls. But who were the most iconic? From Antony and Cleopatra to John and Jackie Kennedy, we examine seven of the most remarkable relationships from the past – as voted for by HistoryExtra readers
encoded: Explore seven of the most memorable couples in history, as voted for by HistoryExtra readers... Antony and Cleopatra Arguably the most famous lovers in history, the story of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra VII has been retold for more than 2,000 years. Popularised by Shakespeare, the lovers were later portrayed in the 1963 film Cleopatra by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Antony and Cleopatra’s affair took place amid a power struggle in the Roman republic. In 41 BC Antony, who was in dispute with Julius Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, over the succession to the Roman leadership following Caesar's assassination, began both a political and romantic alliance with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. Cleopatra bore Antony three children – two sons and a daughter. In 31 BC Antony and Cleopatra joined their armies to tackle Octavian's forces in a great sea battle at Actium, Greece. Beaten by Octavian, the couple fled to Egypt. Octavian pursued them, and the following year captured the Egyptian capital, Alexandria. With his soldiers deserting him, Mark Antony took his own life. He was followed by Cleopatra, who committed suicide on 12 August 30 BC. The face of Cleopatra: was she really so beautiful? Churchill and Clementine The course of love ran considerably smoother for the next couple in our list. Meeting briefly at a ball in 1904, Winston Churchill was “transfixed and tongue-tied; Clementine [Hozier] unimpressed”, according to the official website of the wartime prime minister. The pair did not meet again for another four years. In August 1908, just four months after meeting for the second time, Churchill invited Clementine to his birthplace, Blenheim Palace, and as they took shelter from a rainstorm in an ornamental Greek temple during an afternoon walk, he proposed. The pair married on 12 September. The announcement devastated Violet Asquith, to whom Churchill later admitted he was “practically engaged to” before proposing to Clementine. Churchill’s greatest speeches Wh…

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