By: Natalie Owens, Freshman
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The celebration of Valentine's Day, also known as St. Valentine's Day, is a widely known holiday throughout the United States and other parts of the world. This holiday is dedicated to expressing gratification through gifts, flowers, and letters given among loved ones. The celebration on February 14th has become a common practice today, but where exactly did the "Holiday of Romance" come from?
The origins of Valentine's Day and who exactly Saint Valentine continues to be debated today, but many of its roots date back to ancient Rome. There are at least three known saints that may have given inspiration to the holiday. One legend says that when Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men, St. Valentine held secret marriages for young lovers. After being found guilty of defying this law, Claudius II beheaded Valentine. Some say that Valentine's Day was based on St. Valentine, a bishop of Terni, who was beheaded by Claudius II as well. It is known that the holiday itself is named after St. Valentine of Terni, but it is possible that both St. Valentines were actually the same person. Another story is that St. Valentine sent letters from inside prison to a young woman and signed them, "from your Valentine," creating the phrase we still know today.
The ancient Roman festival Lupercalia is a known inspiration for today's Valentine's Day. The pagan festival Lupercalia took place in mid-February, much like the current holiday.
Lupercalia celebrates fertility and the coming of spring. Many rituals were held to supposedly make women more fertile in the upcoming year. A special activity during Lupercalia was a contest in which all young women in Rome put their name into an urn and a name would be picked out to marry a young bachelor. By the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I outlawed the festival due to it being "un-Christian," and it was turned into St. Valentine's Day.
The idea of Valentine's Day letters goes as far back as the Middle Ages, but the holiday wasn't formally acknowledged until the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s. By the 1840s, printing technology had improved and printed Valentine's Day cards became popular. These cards often featured Cupid, the Roman god of love, hearts, and red roses. It also became popular to gift flowers and candies to loved ones.
Today, Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries but is most well known in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia. It has also become a common practice for children in school to hand out Valentine's Day cards to their classmates. Behind Christmas, Valentine's Day has become the second most card-sending holiday in the world with an estimated 145 million cards being sent on February 14th.
Sources: Britannica.com, History.com
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