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 surpris
e 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.