Origins of Valentine’s Day?

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Valentine’s Day has been celebrated as a romantic holiday since the 14th century, although mid-February has been a traditional time to celebrate love and fertility for much longer. The exact origins of this holiday are actually somewhat unclear, and the situation is made more complicated by the fact that there are as many as three Valentines, none of which can easily be associated with love. The most accepted explanation for the origins of Valentine’s Day is that it has its roots in pagan fertility festivals, which often took place at the end of winter.

In ancient times, many cultures celebrated a fertility festival in mid-February. In Rome, the festival became known as Lupercalia and included festive parades through the streets with an assortment of pagan symbols. During Lupercalia, men and women drew tokens with random names on each to pair for games and gift exchanges.

The Christian church disapproved of Lupercalia’s pagan and erotic nature and sought to institute a more serious holiday to celebrate Valentine’s Day, although since all three Valentines were martyred on February 14, it is unclear which one was intended to be celebrated . The practice of instituting a saint in a pagan folk festival was quite common, so that converts could celebrate their new faith on traditional feast days. The question of which Valentine’s Day should be celebrated cannot be answered. One of the men healed the sick, another was imprisoned and tortured for his Christian beliefs, and the story of the third Valentine is unknown. Some scholars suspect that the first two are actually the same man, and in later years the myth was added that Valentine’s Day secretly married unmarriageable couples.

The townspeople weren’t too keen on celebrating yet another saint, and Valentine’s Day began to evolve into a celebration of love and marriage. The tradition of exchanging cards and tokens continued, and during the height of courtly love, people began selecting their own Valentine mates. Couples exchanged Valentine’s Day cards and gifts, and Valentine’s Day began to appear frequently in love poetry. The first written connection of this day and love was provided by Chaucer, who wrote a love poem commemorating the engagement of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia which linked the mating of birds with the royal betrothal and day of Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day’s elaborate exchanges of poems, cards, and gifts cemented it as a holiday celebration of love in European popular culture. Since then Valentine’s Day has spread all over the world and many nations celebrate love on February 14 with flowers, gifts and cards. It is one of the best-selling days for greeting card companies, as most of the lovers no longer make their own cards. In countries like India, where relationships between men and unmarried women aren’t encouraged, lovers often celebrate Valentine’s Day in secret with furtive encounters and gift exchanges.

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