February 14 is celebrated around the world as Valentine’s Day. Contrary to what some may believe, Valentine’s Day was not invented by greeting card companies or chocolate manufacturers. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated in some form since the days of the Roman Empire.
In the days of the Romans, Valentine’s Day was celebrated as a festival called Lupercalia. It was a festival of fertility in which priests would sacrifice goats and bless both women and fields that they would be fertile that year. It was also a fête of matchmaking. Some historians suggest that the names of young women were put into an urn for eligible bachelors to pick out. The two were then often married. The name of the celebration wasn’t changed until the 5th century when Pope Gelasius I was ridding the Catholic Church of pagan holidays. He named the day St. Valentine’s Day after the patron saint of lovers.
The namesake for the day was martyred around the year 270. Legend has it that St. Valentine was imprisoned for defying the orders of the emperor and marrying couples to save the husbands from military service. Thus, his holiday centers around a display of love. While imprisoned, St. Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and passed her a letter he signed “from your Valentine,” beginning the tradition of “Valentines” trading cards with one another. Printed cards began being sold sometime around 1500. Now, trading cards and sweets is incredibly popular in places like the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Korea.
Learn more here:
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Valentines-Day
- https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2
- https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/celebrations/article/valentines-day
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Valentine
