The history behind Valentine’s Day
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is about roses, chocolate and cards – well, that’s what the shops want you to believe. But the day of love has a long and varied history so let’s take a look at the facts behind the most romantic day of the year.
Roman roots
The day’s roots began in ancient Rome where Lupercalia, a pagan fertility festival, was celebrated on February 13, 14 and 15. This all changed circa AD 496, when Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 to be St. Valentine’s Day, a Christian feast day.
There’s more than one St. Valentine
It’s unclear exactly which St. Valentine Pope Gelasius was intending to honour as there were at least three early Christian saints called Valentine. The St. Valentine officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Church is said to have died around AD 270 but other accounts describe Valentine as a temple priest who was beheaded near Rome by the emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed. Another account describes him as a bishop in Terni, although the similarities of the story lead many to think they refer to the same person. The questionable historical origins has led the Catholic Church to discontinue liturgical veneration of him in 1969, although his name remains on its list of officially recognised saints.
Chaucer may have invented what we know as Valentine Day today
The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer may have been the one to link the Christian feast day with love and romance. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” written around 1375, he refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate writing, “For this was on St. Valentine’s Day. When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.” No records exists before Chaucer’s poem of a link between love and the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day.
The start of the Valentine’s Day cards
Over the centuries, Valentine’s Day evolved to gift-giving and exchanges of love-notes, a precursors to the cards we know today. By the early 19th century, industrialisation and the popularity of the love notes meant factories were able to mass-produce cards. It was 1913 that Hallmark Cards produced their first ever Valentines, and now that date is the flagship “Hallmark Holiday”.
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