There are many holidays within the short month of February, but Valentine’s Day holds a special place in the hearts of many romantics. This holiday is a time to express affection and love to partners, friends, and family with chocolates and flowers. Yet, how these staple traditions began has been lost to hazy legends and misconstrued throughout time.
One such legend says that the holiday’s namesake—Valentine—derived from a priest of the same name, a citizen of the Roman Empire. Emperor Claudius II had made marriage illegal for young men, but Valentine disobeyed this order and performed weddings for young couples anyway. When Claudius discovered his crimes, Valentine was executed. However, his selfless defiance immortalized him until he was canonized into St. Valentine two centuries after his death.
Another story claims that Valentine aided Christian prisoners in escaping Roman persecution before Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity as the official religion not long after Valentine died. Like the previous legend, Valentine was imprisoned and sentenced to death for his actions against the Roman Empire. While incarcerated, he met a young woman considered the jailer’s daughter. The modern idea of being one’s “Valentine” supposedly derived from a note he sent her, signing it “from your Valentine.” Both versions of the story reflect romantic themes, perhaps causing it to be defined as the holiday of love known today.
Valentine was killed around Feb. 14, causing many to assume Valentine’s Day is a memorialization of his death. Others believe that the holiday’s celebration and feast was an attempt to replace the February pagan holiday, Lupercalia, with an event of deeper Christian beliefs. The Romans also tried this with other celebrations, such as the Celtic festival Samhain (today’s Halloween).
Eventually, Lupercalia was forbidden and officially replaced with St. Valentine’s Day around 500 A.D. However, the idea of love usually associated with Valentine’s Day did not occur until the 14th century, when poets documented the holiday’s romantic connotation for the first time through their work.
While there are many theories regarding the roots of Valentine’s Day, and the identity of its namesake, time has erased much of the evidence to investigate for a solid answer. Perhaps with the rise of technology and historians’ research, the true story of Valentine’s Day will be revealed.
Sources: HISTORY , Britannica
by caporcelli