History of Valentine’s Day

To most, Valentine’s Day is just a holiday filled with heart-shaped cards and chocolates. But what is the History of Valentine’s Day? Some know that it has both Roman and and Christian roots, but are unsure about the complete story.  Does it have any historical significance? When did it originate? Continue reading to find out!

The oldest mention of Valentine’s Day comes from the Romans. Every year, on February 15th, they would celebrate a festival called Lupercalia. This was meant to protect them and keep away dangerous creatures such as wolves. It also served to honor the god of shepherds Lupercus, whom the festival is named after.

The more commonly told legend regarding the origin of Valentine’s Day is the story of a man named  Valentine who had been imprisoned for reasons unknown. According to the tale, when Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with the daughter of the man who had imprisoned him. Before he was put to death, he wrote a letter to her, and signed it “Your Valentine,” a term which is still used today.

There is a slightly different version of the story which claims that he was a priest serving in Rome during the 3rd century. The emperor of Rome at this time decided to make it against the law for young men to marry because that was when they were in their best shape, and believed they should join the army instead of having a family. St. valentine decided that this was not fair and married young  couples secretly. When the emperor found out, he had St. Valentine imprisoned and the couples whom St. Valentine had married came to visit him in prison and brought gifts such as flowers and cards(sound familiar?)

Valentine’s Day was not associated with romance until around the 14th century, when a man named Chaucer wrote a poem to commemorate the engagement of two royals. The poem he wrote was about birds choosing their mates on Valentine’s Day. The tradition of giving home-made cards was popular in England by the 18th century and later spread to the United States. In the 1850’s a woman named Esther Howland began mass producing them, which made the tradition spread faster than ever. Today, an estimated 25% of cards sent each year are Valentine’s Day cards.

Perhaps we will never know which legend is correct and how exactly Valentine’s Day came to be. But however it happened, it is now a day celebrated with cards, gifts, and showing you loved ones how much you care.