(Photo)
Did you know that Valentine’s Day didn’t just start with acts of love? This day has a full history behind it.
Valentine’s Day is set on February 14th year round. It is celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, and Australia. It’s a day of spreading love and affection to those around you. Usually, with the gifting of flowers, chocolates, candies, and cards. February 14th is a day to respect love and express feelings.
This holiday originated as a Christian feast day to honor St. Valentine. The Catholic Church recognizes several saints named Valentine or Valentinus all who were martyred. One legend says an imprisoned Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl. Another legend according to History.com, “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. 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. Still others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.” Some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of the month to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death.
Meanwhile, others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of the month to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus. The Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founder of Romulus and Remus. The ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia incorporated the arrival of spring into the custom of greeting cards in Victorian Britain. It is believed that during the middle ages, in France and England that February 14th was the beginning of birds’ mating season. This further suggests that this day is supposed to be a romantic one.
Even though, Valentine’s Day didn’t become popular until the 1700s. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as St. Valentine’s Day. Throughout the centuries, Valentine’s Day has become more about the spreading of love and affection rather than St. Valentine himself.
Here’s a fun fact. Did you know that English Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem, “Parliament of Fowls”?
