Valentine’s Day falls on February 14 each year. Candy, flowers, and presents are given and received between loved ones throughout the United States and other countries on Valentine’s Day. But who is this enigmatic saint, and where did these customs originate? Discover the origins and significance of Valentine’s Day, from the spring-welcoming Lupercalia ceremony of the Romans to Victorian England’s card-giving traditions.
What’s the origin of Valentine’s Day? The origins of the festival and the life of its patron saint could be more precise. We know that Valentine’s Day has its roots in Christian and ancient Roman culture and that February has long been regarded as the month of love. However, who was Saint Valentine, and how did he come to be connected to this traditional ritual?
The Catholic Church reveres at least three martyrs named Valentine or Valentinus. According to one narrative, Valentine was a priest who served in Rome in the third century. Emperor Claudius II forbade young men from getting married because he believed that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and kids. Realizing the injustice of the law, Valentine defied Claudius and secretly married young lovers. When Valentine’s deeds were discovered, Claudius gave the order to have him executed. Others assert that the bishop Saint Valentine of Terni is the source of the holiday’s name. Outside of Rome, Claudius II also beheaded him.
According to other legends, Valentine may have been murdered for trying to aid Christians in escaping the brutal Roman jails, where they were frequently beaten and tormented. One story claims that a prisoner named Valentine, who fell in love with a young girl who visited him while he was incarcerated and may have been his jailor’s daughter, sent the first “valentine” message himself. He claimed that before passing away, he wrote her a letter addressed to “From your Valentine,” a phrase still in use today. Despite the ambiguity surrounding the legends surrounding Valentine, they all highlight his attractiveness as a sympathetic, courageous, and—most importantly—romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, Valentine would rank among the most well-liked saints in England and France—possibly due to this reputation.
Although Lupercalia survived the early growth of Christianity, it was forbidden at the end of the 5th century when Pope Gelasius proclaimed February 14, St. Valentine’s Day, because it was thought to be “un-Christian.” But it wasn’t until later that the Day was unmistakably linked to love. The concept that Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance in the middle of February was strengthened during the Middle Ages by the widespread belief in France and England that February 14 marked the start of the bird breeding season.
Although written Valentine’s first appeared about 1400, Valentine’s greetings have been popular since the Middle Ages. Charles, Duke of Orleans, who had been captured at the Battle of Agincourt, composed a sonnet to his wife when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415, making it the oldest recorded Valentine still in existence today. (The greeting is currently a part of the British Library’s manuscript collection in London, England.) Many years later, it’s thought that King Henry V commissioned John Lydgate, a writer, to write Catherine of Valois Valentine’s card.
