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I hope, like me, that you find things like this interesting. I mean, the hearts and flowers and sheer commercialism of this mid February love fest must have started somewhere. I did a bit of digging to find out, and it would appear that Saint Valentine’s day has some very dark origins indeed.
The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One story suggest 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 married family men, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, seeing the injustice this, defied Claudius and continued to perform secret marriages for young lovers. When his actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be executed. An alternative theory though, is that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of Valentine’s day. He was also beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.
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, Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting himself, from his prison cell, after he fell in love with a young girl who visited him during his imprisonment. She could have been his jailors daughter. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still used today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasise 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 Europe.
Some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death, which probably occurred around A.D. 270. Others though, claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianise” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
The Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification, before cutting the goat’s hide into strips, and gently slapping both women and crop fields with it. Roman women welcomed this, as 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 young men would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Strange but true!!
Lupercalia was eventually outlawed at the end of the 5th century, and 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!!
In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century, and by the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters, and 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.
The rest, as they say is history, and around 1 billion Valentine’s cards are exchanged every year. Here’s some other little facts surrounding the day –
The red rose was the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love. Approximately 50 million roses are received on Valentine’s Day around the world.
Cupid is the son of Venus, and the god of beauty and love.
People in medieval times who couldn’t write their names signed in front of a witness with an X which they then kissed to show their sincerity.
It was once believed that the heart was the part of the body that the feeling of love came from. As the heart pumped red blood around the body, red became the symbol of love.
Richard Cadbury first gave chocolates to his beloved in a heart-shaped box in 1868.
Personally, I see Valentine’s day as just a bit of fun, nothing more, nothing less. How will you be celebrating? It certainly is a prime day of the year for getting down on one knee and making that proposal of marriage. Need a celebrant? Look no further!!!
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