History of St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine was martyred on February 14. However, Valentine or Valentinus is the name of at least three martyred saints. The most celebrated are the two martyrs whose festivals fall on February 14. One was a Roman priest, the other, bishop of Terni.

Context

It would appear from legend that both lived during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (Gothicus) around 270; both died on the same day. Both were buried on the Via Flaminia but at different distances from the city of Rome. A third Valentine was a martyr in the Roman province of North Africa about whom little is known.

This Claudius the Cruel had banned his soldiers from getting married, believing that unmarried members were more reliable on foreign military campaigns. Valentine was beaten and beheaded because he secretly married soldiers to their wives, contrary to the ban.

It seems that the first celebration of the Feast of St. Valentine was declared to be on February 14 by Pope Gelasius I in 496. Valentine is the patron saint of beekeeping, epilepsy, and the plague, fainting, and traveling.

And, of course, he’s also the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages. Many authorities believe that the lovers’ festival associated with St. Valentine’s day comes from the belief that this is the day in Spring when birds begin their mating. But there is another view.

Roman background to St Valentine’s Day

In the days of early Rome, a great festival was held every February called Lupercalia, held in honor of a god named Lupercus. During Rome’s founding days, the city was surrounded by an immense wilderness in which were great hordes of wolves. The Romans thought they must have a god to watch over and protect the shepherds with their flocks, so they called this god Lupercus, from the Latin word lupus, a wolf.

One of the amusements on this festival day was placing young women’s names in a box to be drawn out by the young men. Each young man accepted the girl whose name he drew as his lady love. It remains unknown whether the customs of Lupercalia are perpetuated on Valentine’s Day.

Romance and St Valentine’s Day

But where did the romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day come from? The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in the late 1370s about the Saint in his poem called “Parliament of Foules.”

He links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day. This was an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention. The verse refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate. When Chaucer wrote the following,

“For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day

Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate”

…his was the first mention in the published literature of the holiday as we know it today!

Customs of St Valentine’s Day

Practices and customs have changed throughout the years; during Christian times, the priests put saints’ and martyrs’ names into boxes to be drawn out. The name drawn out was called one’s “valentine,” and the holy life of that person was to be imitated throughout the year. It was at one time the custom in England for people to call out:

“Good morning, ’tis St. Valentine’s Day!”

The one who succeeded in saying this first expected a present from the one to whom it was said, making things pretty lively on St. Valentine’s Day.

St. Valentine’s Day Cards

Paper valentines date back to the 15th century and cards to the 18th, but it took America’s enterprise to make a buck at it. Esther A. Howland produced one of the first American commercial Valentines in 1848 and sold in the first year of sales $5,000 worth — when $5,000 was a LOT of money. Today, $1.3B is spent on Valentine’s Day greeting cards.

Candy

Valentine’s Day is the second-priciest holiday on the US calendar: they spend $27.4 billion each year, $2.4 billion just on candy. On average, celebrants spend almost $200 on the day, $100 on a couple’s dinner out. Men spend three times as much as women. Money is spent on flowers, jewelry, and candy… but especially chocolate. 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased in the seven days leading up to Feb. 14

If you’re asked if you have a date for St. Valentine’s Day, you can say

Yes… my date is February 14.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian

www.billpetro.com

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