Every year millions of people celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th. Across the United States as well as other places around the world, loved one’s exchange card, gifts, flowers, and candy – all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from?
The history of Valentine’s Day—and the story of St.Valentine is regarded as a mystery. We do know that the month of February has long been celebrated for romance and that the origin of St. Valentine’s Day, as we recognize it today contains ties from both Roman and Christian history.
The Catholic Church has a record of several saints with the name Valentine. The most prominent legend of Saint Valentine was a priest who lived during third century Rome. It is rumored that Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were stronger soldiers due to their lack of family ties so he outlawed marriage for young men to prevent romantic connections. Saint Valentine, realizing the Emperor’s motives, decided to perform marriages for couples in secret. When Valentine’s secret marriages were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death for defying him and the holiday of Valentine’s Day was created in his honor. Before his death, it is alleged that Saint Valentine wrote a letter to his own love that he signed “From your Valentine,” which is an expression that is still in use today.
While many believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in mid-February to commemorate the death of Saint Valentine, others believe that the Christian Church dictated the date. Legend has it that the Christian church may have decided to host a feast in the middle of February in the effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the founders of Rome Romulus and Remus that occurred during the “ides of February” which fell on February 15th. One of the festival activities was said to be a lottery system for pairings of men and women. The eligible women in the city would have their name placed in an urn and the city’s bachelors would each choose a name from the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage by the end of the pairing year.
Geoffery Chaucer – an English poet – was the first to explicitly record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romance in his 1375 poem titled “Parliament of Foules,” writing, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh there to choose his mate.”
It was not until at the end of the 5th century that Pope Gelasius declared February 14th the official holiday of St. Valentine’s Day. As history progressed and the world expanded through the industrial revolution, large companies saw an opportunity in the holiday to associate products we know today such as flowers, candy, and chocolate with Valentine’s Day. Soon the romantic holiday became a marketing gold mine for companies who could profit off of couples not wanting to be left out of the holiday festivities. The significance of Feburay 14th has changed in meaning throughout the course of history but one thing remains the same: Valentine’s Day will always be the most romantic day of the year.