The History of Valentine’s Day
The death of a Roman priest named Valentinus, commonly known as Valentine, is remembered every year on February 14 as Saint Valentine's Day.
The third century saw his passing away from this world.
Every year on February 14, millions worldwide celebrate Valentine's Day by expressing their love and gratitude for others by sending Valentine's Day cards and chocolates decorated with adorable small heart shapes.
Valentine's Day did not begin as a day dedicated to love gestures, even though the holiday is now a 20-billion-dollar industry.
Each version can only be definitive regarding the festival's origin; different historians have pieced together different occurrences to construct their hypotheses.
To find out how this Day came to be celebrated as a day of romance, we dug deep into its history and gathered all of the hypotheses and legends (some of which are worse than others) that help piece together its convoluted backstory. Our goal was to discover how this Day came to be celebrated as a day of romance.
Make use of the table of contents provided below so that you can go to the respective sections of this article regarding the history of Valentine's Day more quickly.
The History of How the Term "Valentine" Came to Be
Saint Valentine of Rome, a beloved martyr slain on February 14 in the third century A.D., is commonly credited with originating the name Valentine's Day. Saint Valentine was beheaded on February 14 during his time in Rome.
However, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus, three individuals who were later given the name "St. Valentine" were executed by having their heads severed.
When Christians were persecuted severely, there was a rise in the number of people who were put to death for their religious beliefs. These individuals are frequently referred to as martyrs.
The Catholic Church celebrates St. Valentine's Day to honour the holy heroism shown in the stories associated with St. Valentine.
Just Who Is This Saint Valentine, Anyway?
The names St. Valentine and St. Valentine are frequently used interchangeably, even though the former was a Roman priest, and the latter was an Italian bishop.
Valentinus, the priest, was placed under arrest because of his religious convictions.
Valentinus vowed to his guard that he would convert to Christianity if he successfully cured the blindness of the guard's foster daughter.
According to the legend, Valentinus restored the girl's sight, and as a result, the guard and his family became Christians.
The emperor was stunned by the news of their deaths, and he instantly issued an order for the execution of those individuals.
The second Valentinus was likewise put in the position of having to resolve a conflict with a potential convert, and he did so by curing the man's sick kid.
The emperor Gothicus ordered him and the man he had converted to Christianity to be executed.
A school of thought suggests these two people symbolize distinct interpretations of the same story, but they must come to a consensus on who the first Saint Valentine was.
conventional methods of kissing
History of Valentine's Day and Its Patron Saint
The narrative of these martyrs eventually became an essential event in the Christian calendar, and they came to be honoured in that capacity.
A school of thought holds that the Catholic Church may have started celebrating Saint Valentine's Day to honour the individuals in question, whom they held in very high respect and regarded as martyrs.
According to legends from the Middle Ages and popular depictions from modern times, St. Valentine secretly married young men to prevent them from joining the military. This practice is associated with Valentine's Day.
St. Valentine fell in love with the blind girl he treated and wrote her the first Valentine from prison, signing it "From your Valentine," a statement that is still in use today. Another legend has it that he did this because he was imprisoned at the time.
On the other hand, these tales are not backed by any accurate historical data.
Lupercalia
Some people believe that the Christian church celebrated Saint Valentine's Day in the middle of February to disguise the pagan fertility celebration of Lupercalia. Other people, on the other hand, believe that the two holidays are entirely unrelated to one another.
Roman priests were present at the initial celebration of Lupercalia, which took place from the 13th to the 15th of February.
In ancient pagan religions, it was standard practice to perform a ritual sacrifice to boost fertility by first sacrificing a dog and a goat and then parading through the streets while covering women with the hides of the animals.
An additional peculiar part of the event was that women would place their names into an urn from which eligible bachelors might choose. This allowed for more options for the men.
Each man would spend the festival with the woman whose name he drew, and quite often, the two would end up getting married by the conclusion of the weekend.
How did the first celebration of Saint Valentine's Day come about?
Can you tell me a little bit about the background of Valentine's Day?
The ritual of Lupercalia was eventually made illegal throughout history.
On the other hand, Pope Gelantis established February 14 as "the feast of St. Valentine," which ended the wild celebrations that had been taking place on that Day since the start of the 5th century.
Historians are still debating whether or not this was done in remembrance of the religious courage of St. Valentine or whether or not it was done to mask the pagan feast of Lupercalia.
Couples holding roses for each other and hugging.
The story of Valentine's Day is as long and winding as the history of love itself.
More than a thousand years after the martyr's death, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer ruled that the February feast of St. Valentinus should be linked to birds' mating. This is considered the first official mention of romance on Valentine's Day.
As a result of Chaucer's "Parliament of Foules" mentioning the breeding season of English birds, European nobility started exchanging love notes during February.
Ophelia, the tragic heroine from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, calls herself Valentine shortly after the play's conclusion.
Following the romanticization of the festival by Chaucer and Shakespeare, the celebration swiftly expanded throughout the rest of Europe and the United Kingdom.
In 1415, after being taken prisoner in the Battle of Agincourt, Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote a letter to his wife while incarcerated in the Tower of London.
Since King Henry V of England commissioned a love letter for his queen Catherine of Valois on Valentine's Day, the tradition of writing love letters has become inextricably linked with the holiday.
women bearing presents
What Exactly Does It Mean to Celebrate Valentine's Day These Days?
The history of Valentine's Day could be more obscure. How did it become a day on which we celebrate love with gifts of flowers, chocolate, and greeting cards that we send to one another?
As we have seen, the middle of February has a long history of being associated with celebrations of fertility festivals. Considering this history, it should not be surprising that this time of year has come to be associated with romantic aspirations.
Authors like Chaucer and Shakespeare are unquestionably responsible for popularising the meanings used today, regardless of whether or not these authors deserve full credit.
People continue to give flowers as a typical gesture of thanks on holidays and other special occasions, as well as to express their love and admiration for one another.
In addition to flowers, other common modern symbols of Valentine's Day include candies in the shape of hearts, chocolates, and greeting cards.
Laughing woman lounging in bed
Oh My! There Will Be Sweets, Greeting Cards, and Presents!
In Britain, throughout the 17th century, it was common to practise for friends and lovers to give and receive tokens of affection, such as love letters and little presents.
The tradition made its way to the New World just in time for the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, and it was there that mass-produced Valentine's Day cards helped spread its popularity.
Esther A. Howland was the first to mass-produce Valentine's Day cards with lace, ribbons, and colourful images. Lower shipping costs helped spread the custom, and the popularity of the cards contributed to their success.
In a brief period, people began to refer to her as "Mother Valentine."
To increase chocolate sales, Richard Cadbury pioneered using beautiful packaging for chocolate products.
Because of his invention in 1861, about 36 million boxes of chocolate in the shape of hearts were sold each year.
Oliver Chase, a pharmacist in Boston, was the first to create candy hearts as medical lozenges for sore throats. Oliver Chase produced candy hearts.
When Valentine's Day candies were introduced, they did not have phrases such as "Happy Valentine's Day" and "Sweetheart" etched.
It seemed as though the flowers had appeared out of thin air.
Flowers have been the traditional gift for Valentine's Day because of their connection to agriculture and the associated necessity for fertile land and mates.
For a very long time, flowers have been used to symbolize concepts including love, marriage, and masculinity.
The custom of presenting one's loved one with a floral arrangement to communicate their emotions without using words predates Valentine's Day.
Charles II of Sweden is credited with bringing the "Persian language of flowers" custom to Europe when he gave his wife a bouquet for Valentine's Day for the first time.
Because each flower in this system is associated with a distinct feeling, it is possible to carry on an entire conversation using only flowers' symbolic language without verbal exchanges.
Given that the colour red is associated with "romance," "love," "beauty," and "courage," and that the colour white is associated with "purity," "loyalty," and "innocence," it should come as no surprise that red and white roses are the most popular flower arrangements for Valentine's Day.
It has been suggested that giving a thornless red rose is connected to the expression "love at first sight."
Roses are available in a wide range of colours other than red, and each of those colours has its symbolic connotation (pink).
Several ancient societies believed that the rose symbolised beauty that God created.
When the Greek goddess Chloris saw a woodland nymph who had passed away, she transformed her into a beautiful flower. At the same time, her husband, Zephyrus, blew away the clouds so that Apollo's sun could beam down and warm the world.
In addition to Aphrodite's attractiveness and Dionysus' fragrant nectar, the three Graces bestowed upon the freshly created rose the gifts of charm, joy, and splendour. These were conferred in addition to Aphrodite's attractiveness.
After that, the title of "Queen of Flowers" was bestowed upon the love deity Eros, who was also Aphrodite's son.
More than eighty per cent of Valentine's Day bouquets include roses. On February 14, approximately one-third of adults in the United States will purchase plants or flowers as gifts for the people they care about.
Is Any Basis in Reality Behind the Tale of the Infant Who Flew?
The Roman goddess Venus was the personification of love and beauty. Cupid was her mischievous spawn.
Whether he was shooting at a god or a person, the target of his arrows would become hopelessly enamoured with the other.
The traditional depiction of Cupid as a winged youth armed with a bow and arrow dates back to the Renaissance. This image was made famous by artists of the Renaissance, such as Caravaggio, and it was later used on greeting cards beginning in the early 19th century.
Gleeful men Questions & Answers About Valentine's Day
It is estimated that over one billion Valentine's Day cards are traded between people worldwide each year, making it the second-largest event for exchanging greeting cards, behind only Christmas.
See below for some fascinating information about Valentine's Day and the answers to several questions that are asked rather frequently about the history of the event.
On Valentine's Day, approximately 6 million people will get engaged (Huff Post).
In 2019, an estimated 250 million roses were cultivated specifically for the holiday of St. Valentine (Society of American Florists).
In 2019, around 5.4% of all households participated in Valentine's Day celebrations with their pets.
In 2020, three-quarters of Americans stated that they believed it was necessary to celebrate Valentine's Day (National Retail Federation).
In 2020, 190 million Valentine's Day cards were given and received amongst romantic partners.
This is the National Retail Federation.
Christmas spending in 2121 was over $21.8 billion, an increase over the previous year (National Retail Federation).
Should Valentine's Day be celebrated solely by romantically involved individuals?
A:
Valentine's Day, now celebrated annually, recognizes and celebrates all varieties of romantic relationships.
One way to do this is to express to the people you care about, such as your children, coworkers, and even your pets, how much they mean to you.
There is a festive alternative to Valentine's Day known as Galentine's Day, and its celebration is growing in popularity every year.
The dilemma arises: What should I give my Valentine for Valentine's Day?
Finding the ideal present for your significant other on Valentine's Day can be difficult, no matter if this is your first Valentine's Day together or your twentieth.
Gifts for Valentine's Day range from traditional sweets and flowers to something more contemporary and luxurious, like a spa gift basket.
We have collected a list of the top Valentine's Day gift ideas that are ideal for people of various ages and phases of their relationships to make it easier for you to make your choice.
What are your thoughts?
Have we managed to arouse your curiosity about Valentine's Day?
We are pleased to celebrate love on February 14, even though there may be more to Valentine's Day than just showering your loved ones with flowers and candies as a token of your affection.
Remember that even the most minor acts of love, such as writing a note to your mother, buying a little present for a coworker, or making a significant show of support for a friend who is having difficulty, are all valued and do make a difference.
Visit our Valentine's Day gift baskets to pick a present that will bring a grin to the face of anybody you give it to.
Best wishes to every one of my Valentines!