Valentine’s Day falls on February 14 each year. Candy, flowers, and presents are given and received amongst loved ones all around the United States and in other countries on Valentine’s Day. But who is this enigmatic saint, and where did these customs originate? Learn about the origins of Valentine’s Day, from the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia, which ushered in the spring, to Victorian England’s card-giving traditions.
The Legend of St. Valentine
The origins of Valentine’s Day and the life of its patron saint are mostly unknown. We do know that Valentine’s Day has its roots in both Christian and ancient Roman culture, and that February has long been regarded as the month of love. However, who was Saint Valentine and how did he come to be connected to this traditional ritual?
At least three martyrs with the names Valentine or Valentinus are revered by the Catholic Church. According to one narrative, Valentine was a priest who served in Rome in the third century. Emperor Claudius II forbade young men from getting married because he believed that single men were better soldiers than those with wives and kids. Realizing the unfairness of the law, Valentine disobeyed Claudius and proceeded to secretly marry young lovers. When Valentine’s deeds were revealed, Claudius gave the order to have him executed. Others assert that the bishop Saint Valentine of Terni is the actual source of the holiday’s name. Outside of Rome, Claudius II also beheaded him.
According to some legends, Valentine may have been murdered for trying to aid Christians in escaping the brutal Roman jails, where they were frequently beaten and tormented. One story claims that a prisoner named Valentine, who fell in love with a young girl who visited him while he was incarcerated and may have been his jailor’s daughter, sent the first “valentine” message himself. It is claimed that before passing away, he sent her a letter addressed to “From your Valentine,” a phrase that is still in use today. Despite the ambiguity surrounding the legends surrounding Valentine, they all highlight his attractiveness as a compassionate, valiant, and—most importantly—romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, Valentine would rank among the most well-liked saints in England and France—possibly as a result of this reputation.
Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February
While some think that Valentine’s Day is observed in the middle of February to mark the anniversary of Valentine’s passing or burial, which most likely took place around the year 270, others assert that the Christian church may have chosen to do so in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan festival of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival honoring the Roman founding fathers Romulus and Remus as well as Faunus, the god of agriculture, and was observed on the ides of February, or February 15.
The Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would assemble at a holy cave where it was said that a she-wolf, or lupa, cared for the newborns Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, to kick off the celebration. For fertility and cleansing, the priests would sacrifice a goat and a dog, respectively. The goat’s skin would then be torn into strips, dipped in the blood sacrifice, and carried through the streets to be gently slapped against both ladies and crop fields. Roman women were supposed to become more fruitful the next year, therefore they were not at all afraid when the hides were touched. Legend has it that all the city’s young women would place their names in a large urn later in the day. Each bachelor in the city would select a name and be partnered for the year with his preferred woman. Most of these encounters resulted in marriage.
Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance and Love
Although Lupercalia survived the early growth of Christianity, it was forbidden at the end of the 5th century when Pope Gelasius proclaimed February 14 St. Valentine’s Day because it was seen to be “un-Christian.” But it wasn’t until until later that the day was unmistakably linked to love. The concept that Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance in the middle of February was strengthened throughout the Middle Ages by the widespread belief in France and England that February 14 marked the start of the bird breeding season. In his poem “Parliament of Foules,” written in 1375, the English author Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to refer to St. Valentine’s Day as a day of love celebration. He wrote, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to pick his spouse.”
Although written Valentine’s did not first emerge until about 1400, Valentine greetings have been popular since the Middle Ages. Charles, Duke of Orleans, who had been captured at the Battle of Agincourt, composed a sonnet to his wife when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415, making it the earliest recorded Valentine still in existence today. (The greeting is currently a part of the British Library’s manuscript collection in London, England.) Many years later, it’s said that King Henry V commissioned John Lydgate, a writer, to write Catherine of Valois a Valentine’s card.
Who Is Cupid?
Valentine’s Day cards frequently feature Cupid as a nude cherub shooting arrows of love at unwary couples. However, the Greek deity of love, Eros, is the ancestor of the Roman god Cupid. He was reportedly born to Nyx and Erebus, Aphrodite, and Ares, Iris, and Zephyrus, or even Aphrodite and Zeus, according to various accounts of his birth (who would have been both his father and grandfather).
Greek Archaic poets described Eros as a gorgeous immortal who toyed with people’s emotions. He used golden arrows to stir feelings of love and leaden ones to stir feelings of dislike. He wasn’t shown as the cheeky, chubby boy he had become on Valentine’s Day cards until the Hellenistic era.
Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings
Valentine’s Day is observed outside of the United States in countries including Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Around the 17th century, Valentine’s Day became a widely observed holiday in Great Britain.
Friends and lovers of all social groups would frequently exchange modest mementos of affection or handwritten notes by the middle of the 18th century, and by 1900, thanks to advancements in printing technology, printed cards started to take the role of written letters. When direct emotional expression was frowned upon, pre-made cards provided a simple means of expression for people. The popularity of mailing Valentine’s Day messages increased as shipping costs decreased.
Early in the 1700s, Americans most likely started sharing handmade valentines. Esther A. Howland started selling the first mass-produced Valentines in America in the 1840s. Howland, dubbed the “Mother of the Valentine,” created intricate works of art using actual lace, ribbons, and “scrap,” or vivid images. Valentine’s Day is now the second-largest card-sending occasion of the year, with an estimated 145 million cards being sent annually, according to the Greeting Card Association (more cards are sent during Christmas).