Every February 14, 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 who is this
mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the
history of this centuries-old holiday, from ancient Roman rituals to the
customs of Victorian England.
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’s Day, as we
know 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?
The Catholic Church recognizes at least 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 Claudius and continued to perform
marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered,
Claudius 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 beaten 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 her 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 A.D. 270–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 “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.
Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility
festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the
Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the
Luperci, an order of 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
fertility, 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 hide. 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 and but was
outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when
Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much
later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During
the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February
14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the
middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages,
though 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 theBattle of Agincourt.
(The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library
in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that KingHenry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to
compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
TYPICAL
VALENTINE’S DAY 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, 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 when 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 the 1840s, 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. (An
estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85
percent of all valentines.
reference
http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day
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