Valentine’s Day is a well-known day of love often celebrated by exchanging cards, chocolates, and red roses with loved ones. But do you know the origins of Valentine’s Day, who it commemorated, and how our Valentine’s Day traditions came to be?
Few holidays have evolutions as complex as Valentine’s Day. What we know as a greeting card holiday has quite the storied past: first as a Roman holiday with cruel practices, then as a Catholic feast day with purer intentions, and finally, today’s amalgam of traditions celebrating love of all kinds. Discover some surprising Valentine’s Day facts.
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Why is Valentine’s Day celebrated on 14 February?
Valentine’s Day is celebrated on 14 February to commemorate the day of the execution of the martyr for whom the day is named, Valentine.
Who was St. Valentine?
St. Valentine, the patron saint of love and engaged couples, has some fuzzy origins. It turns out that two men of this name were executed by the Roman empire in the third century on 14 February in different years (before the empire converted to Christianity in the early fourth century). There’s even a third martyr named Valentine from that time.
The exact identity of St. Valentine, the man who was martyred and celebrated on the feast day of 14 February, is uncertain. However, the Catholic church celebrates a single saint, St. Valentine of Rome, on February 14, and the Eastern Orthodox church celebrates his feast on July 6.
How did Valentine’s Day start?
Valentine’s Day, also known as St. Valentine’s Day or Feast of Saint Valentine, began in the fifth century as the Christian feast day commemorating a holy man named Valentine and his sacrifice.
Some have suggested that Pope Gelasius I created the holiday as a way to replace the pagan festival of fertility and purification, Lupercalia.
The connection between Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia
The early Christian church often aligned its holy days with the dates of pagan celebrations in an effort to convert non-believers. That means the “saintly” aspect of Valentine’s Day wasn’t part of the original celebration of Lupercalia.
Before Christianity took over Rome, the Roman celebration of Valentine’s Day was called Lupercalia, held on February 13-15 every year. This festival, which to our modern way of thinking seems unnecessarily cruel, started off with animal sacrifices followed by the whipping of young women, who were thought to be made fertile by these acts. Later, a kind of lottery was held in which men and women were paired up for the three days of the festival, though that pairing sometimes extended beyond.
When did Valentine’s Day transform to a day of romance?
Even after the Catholic church instituted the feast of St. Valentine in A.D. 496, the day still served as a boozy celebration of fertility. It took centuries for the holiday to transform into something tamer and more romantic, a step that both Chaucer and Shakespeare influenced.
In the late medieval period, Chaucer connected the date to the time of bird mating, while Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” written later in the Renaissance period, features Ophelia calling herself Hamlet’s valentine.
St. Valentine is associated with the medieval courtly love tradition, which flourished during the 12th to 14th centuries and included chivalrous knights who fought for their ladies. This tradition, full of love poetry and song, was the beginning of what we now know as romantic love. Some of those poems and songs were written by women too!
Cards and Cupid: Enduring symbols of Valentine’s Day
In the 14th century, sweethearts began writing love letters for February 14, and soon, Valentine’s Day images were printed with artisanal printing methods. As symbols of love, hearts and winged angels with arrows often appeared on these early cards.
These winged angels originated with Cupid, the ancient Roman god of love and desire, and his Greek counterpart Eros, the Greek god of love and lust. The ancients later conceived of Eros’s attendants as numerous chubby figures with wings known as putti. Those cute figures are still featured on cards today, but they betray the real nature of Cupid.
Cupid’s violent backstory
Cupid’s bow and arrow aren’t just cute—they’re quite violent. Ancient mythology tells of Apollo having slain the dragon of Delphi. Cupid responded to this act by shooting an arrow into Apollo’s heart, making Apollo fall in love with Daphne, committed to remaining a virgin. So Cupid shot her too. As Apollo began to pursue Daphne, her father turned her into a laurel tree, later used as a symbol of victory.
Violence aside, these ancient mythological stories were revisited during the Renaissance, and printed images known as emblems often depicted Cupid or putti in pastoral settings. Short phrases associated with love often accompanied them, further establishing the connection between love and winged males with arrows.
Valentine’s Day cards in the US
After Europeans colonized and settled in the area we now call the United States, they brought these traditions with them.
By 1800, Valentine’s Day cards were commercially produced in the US, thanks in part to Esther Howland. They continued to be adorned with those same flowers, birds, hearts, and arrows, along with lace and other frills.
Explore the world with Rosetta Stone
Who knew a day dedicated to love could have such a long and complicated history? Like any holiday, the contemporary celebration and understanding of Valentine’s Day is that it’s what you make of it. Celebrate with your partner or plan an elaborate dinner with all your friends. Love is meaningful in every form, and Valentine’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to say “I love you” in different languages.
Learning a new language can help you get even closer with the people you love, so honor the day with Rosetta Stone language learning (for yourself or as a gift) to make Valentine’s Day a whole new experience!
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