A Short History of Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is an international holiday celebrated on February 14th. Due to the patron Saint Valentine, February has long been celebrated as the month of love and romance. In the United States, the day is often celebrated with candy, gifts, and flowers being exchanged between loved ones. According to The Times Leger, February 14th is the day where an average 220,000 wedding proposals occur, 73% of American men buy flowers, 15% of women send flowers to themselves, and 3% will give their pet a gift.
Valentine’s Day contains both Christian and Roman traditions. There are many legends surrounding Saint Valentine, and the Catholic Church recognizes three martyred saints named Valentine. Around 496 A.D. the Romans began celebrating the pagan holiday Lupercalia, a pastoral annual festival that was said to deter evil spirits and purify the city, which was celebrated February 13-15th. The Lupercalia festival was held in Rome each year and was said to be violent and sexually charged. Animal sacrifice and random couplings were said to ward away evil and increase fertility.
At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I eliminated the pagan celebration and declared February 14th Saint Valentine’s Day. It is believed the church Christianized the pagan tradition of Lupercalia by claiming Saint Valentine’s Day on February 14th. Saint Valentine was a 3rdcentury Roman saint who became associated with courtly love. There was so much confusion surrounding the true identity of St. Valentine that the Catholic Church discontinued liturgical veneration of him in 1969, although his name remains on the list of officially recognized saints. Valentine is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy.
By the Middle Ages, Valentine’s greetings were exchanged, but not in the form of handwritten letters until the 1400’s. The oldest known valentine written was a poem by Charles Amboise, the Duke of Orleans, to his wife. He wrote his Valentine’s poem to her while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Valentine’s Day has evolved over the years to mean many things to many people. The day is celebrated throughout the world. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day became popular around the 17thcentury. By the 18th century, it was common for loved ones to exchange tokens of affection or notes. By the 20th century, printed cards began to replace handwritten letters. According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day second to Christmas when it comes to card giving.
A special thank you to: https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/lupercalia,https://www.history.com/news/6-surprising-facts-about-st-valentine
