HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY
Every February 14th, across the United States and in other places around the world; candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But in the heck is this mysterious Saint, and where did theses traditions come from? Find out about the history of this centuries-old holiday from ancient Roman rituals to the customs of Victorian England.
CONTENTS
The Legend of St. Valentine
Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February
Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance
Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings
THE LEGEND OF ST. VALENTINE
The history of Valentine’s Day and the story of its patron saint – is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine Day as we know as it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
Did You Know?
Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card sending holiday after Christmas.
The Catholic Church recognizes at three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Cladius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Cladius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beats and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “Valentine”greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl --- possibly his jailor’s daughter --- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote here a letter signed “from your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and most importantly romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.
ORIGINS OF VALENTINE’S DAY: A PAGAN FESTIVAL IN FEBRUARY
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial --- which probably occurred around 270 AD; while others claim that the Christian Church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Chritianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for example, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hides. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.
VALENTINE’S DAY: A DAY OF ROMANCE
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed --- as it was deemed “unChristianlike” --- at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in England and France that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the notion that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be day for romance.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ageshriugh written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known Valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a Valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
TYPICAL VALENTINE GREETINGS
In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th century, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time where direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.
Americans probably began exchanging hand made valentines in the early 1700s. In 1840, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.
Source: http://www.history.com/topics/Valentine's-day/history-of-valentines-day
