Valentine's Day - How It All Began

By Author: Cathi Stevenson
Total Articles: 3
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A brief history of some of the origins we now associate with St. Valentine's Day.
The origin of St. Valentine's day is a matter of some debate. Feb. 14 was the feast day of several Christian martyrs who are credited with being St. Valentine, and each has his own story. The most popular version of the legend describes St. Valentine as a Roman Priest or Bishop who defied Emperor Claudius II (268 - 170 A.D.), when he decreed it illegal for people to marry, or become engaged. The emperor reasoned that marriage distracted men from becoming soldiers and fighting wars. With a soft spot for young people however, Valentine (his real name was Valentinus) secretly married several couples and was beaten and beheaded as a result. To add an even more romantic twist to the tale, it is said that Valentine himself fell in love with his jailer's daughter and in a final note to her signed, From Your Valentine, a phrase that remains popular centuries later. Other versions of the story describe the pair as only friends, and the girl as being blind. In this recounting, Valentine is credited with restoring her sight. St. Valentine's Day ...
... most certainly has its roots in ancient Rome where Feb. 14th was a holiday to honor Juno, Queen of the heavens and Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, Feb. 15, was the Roman festival Lupercalia. Lupercalia is usually credited with being the origin of the modern St. Valentine's Day, since many sources believe Juno's festival happened at least a few weeks later in the year, and Lupercalia was a more important celebration. (Records show that Mark Antony was master of the Luperci College of Priests. He also crowned Julius Caesar during the celebration in 44 B. C. It is quite possible that St. Valentine's execution was part of the festival's entertainment. It was common for Roman rulers to be especially cruel to Christians during celebrations of pagan gods. Lupus, the word Lupercalia is derived from, is Latin for wolf. Wolves lived around Rome in ancient times, killing sheep and sometimes people. Because of these violent rampages, Romans prayed to the God Lupercus, guardian of the flocks, to protect them. The Lupercalia festivities were quite extensive. Since at that time Feb. fell later on the Roman calendar, it was actually a spring festival. The celebration would begin when the Luperci priests gathered at the cave of Lupercal, where mythology says Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, were nursed by a mother wolf. At the door of the cave, several goats and a dog were sacrificed. The blood was smeared on the heads of two youths from noble families, then wiped off with sheep's wool dipped in milk. Throughout the day, children laughed and ran through the streets of Rome, thrashing goatskin thongs, called februa, (where the word February comes from). Women who were struck with the thongs believed it would make them more fertile. Woman also wrote their names on love notes and placed them into an urn. Available young men would draw a name and then seek that woman's favors for the entire year. These matches often resulted in marriage. Early Christians did everything they could to wipe out pagan rituals and celebrations. In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius outlawed pagan festivals, but Lupercalia proved difficult to hinder. When the Roman Catholic Church addressed the task of naming holidays in the 1400s, it was decided to retain the observation of Feb. 14, but as a day to remember the martyrdom of St. Valentine. (In 1969 the feast day was dropped from the Roman church calendar.) The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493. The Latin edition of this book lists the feast day as March 16, but a later German edition says Feb. 14. St. Valentine's Day customs were gradually abandoned in many countries. In the British Isles though, the day remained popular with lovers, in spite of the churche's attempts to make it a more solemn occasion. The practice of drawing young women's names from a Valentine box persisted and in the 1600s and English diarist Samuel Pepys noted that handmade Valentine notes were exchanged between the sexes. Except for a brief period a period in the 17th century when the Puritans banned the celebrations, the tradition flourished. German and English settlers brought St. Valentine's Day to the New World, where it quickly became popular. Originally, people sent presents, along with a verse or motto. Eventually the verse itself became the Valentine. Valentine's Day cards and gifts are decorated with a variety of icons and symbols, the most popular being the heart. Red hearts have denoted love since ancient times when it was believed that the heart was the center of all emotion; The ever-popular Cupid was the Roman god of love; The rose was the sacred flower of Venus, goddess of love. Ribbons, also popular decorations of St. Valentine's Day, became associated with romance during the middle ages, when ladies gave them to their favorite knights as a token of remembrance, when they went to war. The Middle Ages also gave rise to other symbols of romance including lace. Lace comes from the Latin word laqueus which means to noose, or snare. Lace was supposed to snare the heart of a loved one. It was once also believed that lovebirds and doves mated on Feb. 14, so they also were adopted as icons of the lovers' holiday. Now you know the whole story. About the Author Cathi Stevenson is a former editor and journalist who has sold more than 2000 articles world-wide. Her eBook "How To Publish & Market Your eBook For Just $5" made the publisher's best sellers' list within months of its release. Learn how she did it with tips from the Author's Cafe Newsletter. Sign up at: http://www.authorscafe.com. Cathi also owns the highly successful book cover design company: Book Cover Express. http://www.bookcoverexpress.com