Every February, across the
country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the
name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate
this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is
shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of
romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both
Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did
he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, 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
— his crop of potential soldiers. 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, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting
himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a
young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during
his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter,
which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.
Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly
emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic
figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most
popular saints in England and France.
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 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have
decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an
effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In
ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a
time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and
then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their
interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, 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 the 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 then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.
The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial
blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops
with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being
touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would 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 then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with
his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared
February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for
romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, 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
February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance. The oldest known
valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of
Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his
capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is
part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.
Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John
Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the
seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for
friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection
or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, 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 to sell the first mass-produced
valentines in America.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine
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.)
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition
to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the
United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written
Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known
Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial
Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by
Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate
creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".