Valentine’s Day: Who Was Saint Valentine? February has long been celebrated as the month of romance, but its history is deeply rooted in both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. So, who exactly was Saint Valentine, and how did he become the symbol of this timeless celebration?
Even though we have heard of only one St. Valentine, the catholic church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. One of them was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Back when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were better soldiers than those with wives and families. He decided to outlawed marriage for young men. However, Valentine, realized the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. The Emperor discovered it, and beheaded him outside of Rome.
Many stories were told around his support to love, but it wasn’t until he got a letter from an imprisoned that felt in love, possibly from a jailor daughter, who visited them during their confinement. Valentine was helping Christians escape roman prisons.
Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and—most importantly—romantic figure.
When did it started? A Pagan Festival in February
The Origins of Valentine’s Day: When Did It Start? A Pagan Festival in February
There’s reason to believe the Christian Church chose mid-February for St. Valentine’s feast day to “Christianize” Lupercalia, a pagan festival held on February 15 in Ancient Rome. This pastoral celebration, dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and the city’s founders, Romulus and Remus, aimed to purify the city and promote health and fertility.
Roman women welcomed the ritual’s touch, believing it would enhance their fertility for the year ahead. Later, according to legend, young women would place their names in a large urn. The city’s bachelors would draw a name, forming a pair for the year. These matches often led to marriage.
Valentine’s Day Meaning: A Day of Romance and Love
It was believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules.
Valentine greetings were popular back at the Middle Ages, however, written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote the oldest valentine poem written till our days in 1415, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.)
Valentine’s Day… A day of sharing chocolates
Chocolates have been a staples on Valentines Day as a delicious and unique way to show love and care. This tradition has been around since 1840 when Cadbury improved its chocolate-making technique so as to extract pure cocoa butter from whole beans, producing more palatable drinking chocolate than most Britons had ever tasted. This process resulted in an excess amount of cocoa butter, which Cadbury used to produce many more varieties of what was then called “eating chocolate.” Since then many more brands have been offering beautiful, chocolate delicacies that can demonstrate love and create memories, just like our Sweet Sea bon bons from The Netherlands or Rosseau Chocolatier from Canada.
Get ready to surprise share and keep believing in the magic of Cupid with Ethnology Sweets Chocolates.
