Have you ever wondered why we give chocolates, cards and flowers to our loved ones every February 14? Geoffrey Chaucer, a medieval English poet, changed Valentine’s Day to what it is today. It started out as a Christian feast day, marking the start of spring.

Chaucer wrote a poem in “The Parliament of Fowls” to honor the engagement of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia in 1381. In the poem, he said, “For this was on St. Valentine’s Day/When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate,” which led to romanticizing on Valentine’s Day.

We do not exactly know why we celebrate this holiday, but according to History.com, the most common belief seems to be that it began with a humble Christian martyr. Emperor Claudius II forbade marriage because he thought it made his soldiers weak men. St. Valentine of Terni, Italy, disobeyed the emperor, and he secretly married couples. Claudius found out, and he sentenced Valentine to a three-part execution: a beating, stoning and decapitation. It took place on February 14.

Valentine had been writing to a girl, and he signed his last letter, “from your Valentine.” This saying then became a popular cliché for most couples around this holiday.

Originally a day all about food, Chaucer and St. Valentine made it a day about love.