A Short History of Valentine's Day

Every year, lovers everywhere celebrate St. Valentine's Day with candy, cards, and flowers. Children bring home bags full of cards. Conversation hearts with "Be Mine" and "2Cute" and other such messages are favorite seasonal snacks. But why do we do this on St. Valentine's Day, and why in February?

Well, February has been associated with romance since the time of the ancient Romans.

There are three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, and none of their lives had happy endings.

The most probable candidate for THE St. Valentine was a third-century priest in Rome. Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men because he realized single men made better soldiers. Valentinus felt that this was an unjust law, and he performed secret marriages for young lovers in defiance of Claudius. When this was discovered, Valentinus was put to death.

According to legend, while Valentinus was in prison awaiting his death, he fell in love with a young woman, who may have been the daughter of his jailor. He sent her a letter, which he signed, "From your Valentine," and we still use that expression to this day.

But while some people claim that Valentine's Day is celebrated in February to honor the saint who died on that day, in truth the Romans were having a celebration of love at this time of year long before Valentine met his fate. The holiday was called Lupercalia, and it celebrated what the Romans recognized as the beginning of Spring, on February 15, which is the Ides of February. Like most spring festivals, Lupercalia was a fertility festival. As part of the festival, the single women would put their names in a big urn. The eligible men would draw a name, and be paired with that woman for a year. Often, these year-long pairings ended in marriage.

Of course, the Church disapproved of this "lottery" system of living together, so in 498 AD Pope Gelasius followed the usual tradition of creating a Christian holiday to replace a pagan one. But the association with love and romance remained.

Later, in the Middle Ages, when Valentine was one of the most popular saints and the tales of courtly love were tremendously popular, the day was also associated with the beginning of the birds' mating season, further emphasizing the idea that February was the time for romance.

The earliest Valentine in existance today is from 1415, a poem written by an imprisoned noble to his wife, which is part of the collection of the British library in London.

In both England and America, people seem to have begun exchanging handmade valentines in the 1700's, and premade cards were available by the mid-1800's.

The Greeting Card Association claims that a billion cards are sent out for valentine's today, and 85% of those cards are purchased by women. That makes sense, because men know women want candy, or jewely, or flowers and other romantic gifts a lot more than they want cards.

After all, love is a wonderful thing, but at least once a year, a woman wants a little physical proof, and today, Valentine's is that day.