Many people believe that Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday created by Hallmark to increase business; however Valentine’s Day legends started far before Hallmark was born. It is believed that in the third century in Rome, there was a priest named Valentine who served as a soldier. When the emperor at the time decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed married for young men. Valentine defied the emperor and continued to perform marriages in secret for young lovers. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, the emperor ordered his death.
Some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death, but others believe that the Christian church chose February in efforts to Christianize celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. Lupercalia was a fertility festival celebrated on February 15th. To begin, the men would gather in a secret cave to sacrifice a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. They would then slice the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into blood and take them to the streets to gently slap the women with them. Women wanted to be touched with the goathide strips because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year.
After running the streets and smacking women with the goathide strips, the city’s bachelors would then pull a name from the city’s urn to become matched with a young woman. These matches often ended in marriage. About two-hundred years later though, Pope Gelasius deemed these practices un-Christian and outlawed them. He did, however, recognize St. Valentine as a saint and declared February 14th as a day to feast in Valentine’s honor.
During the Middle Ages, Valentine’s Day gained back its romantic feel. In Europe, February 14th also marked the start of mating season for birds and people believed it should be a day for romance. Men used this day to write romantic letters to their lovers. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for lovers and friends to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten letters. However, by the end of the century, printed cards began to replace the handwritten cards due to the improvements in printing technology.
Today, it is common for lovers and friends all over the world to share cards, chocolates, flowers and other tokens of affection to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It is considered a day for lovers full of hearts to symbolize love and the color red to symbolize passion. Symbols of Cupid, the god of erotic love and beauty, also appear in celebration of the holiday.
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