Valentine’s Day is a favorite holiday for young lovers and passionate couples worldwide. There are plenty of reasons for celebrating this day of love—giving and receiving gifts with our significant others, wooing a new lover, or skipping the romance in favor of celebrating friendship, being happily single, and next-day discounted chocolates. But how did this holiday begin?
The history of Valentine’s Day is a mixed bag of Christian feast days honoring martyrs, folk traditions, and a pagan festival in Ancient Rome.
In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February 13-15 and included rites for purification and fertility. A dog and one or more goats were sacrificed by the Luperci priests, who then fashioned februa—an item used for purifying—from cut goat hide to lash women around the city to promote fertility, lactation, and easy childbirth. Some sources say men drew the names of women from a jar to determine couples during the feasting, and though these couplings were random, many chose to remain couples for the year or more permanently.
In the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I suppressed Lupercalia—whether it was outlawed or replaced by a Christian holy day is debatable.
Of the Christian saints with the name Valentine, Saints Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni are honored on February 14. Not much is reliably known of these saints and many stories seem to have been blended, but here is what is written.
Saint Valentine of Rome—the martyr most connected to Valentine's Day—is said to have miraculously healed a judge's blind daughter but was later arrested for converting people to Christianity. Some stories claim he was blessing soldiers' Christian marriages. He was sent to Rome and put to death by beheading by order of Emperor Claudius II. Another variation of the story of his execution involved writing a note to his jailer's blind daughter signed, "Your Valentine."
Saint Valentine of Terni was a bishop and martyr. It is said he was scourged and did not renounce his faith, after which he was secreted out of the prison and beheaded by order of Placidus.
Some give credit for adding to the confusion of which saint Valentine's Day comes from to The Parliament of Fowls written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382. The poem about birds choosing their mates in Spring has the line: "For this was on seynt Valentynes day"—which connects romantic love to the day honoring the martyr Saint Valentine, February 14. Only February is not in Spring. So, it is believed that Chaucer was actually referring to Saint Valentine of Genoa, whose feast day is May 3... But the confusion was already set in motion.
The history of Valentine's Day is a muddle of Roman bacchanal, feast days of multiple Christian martyrs and their embellished lore, and the reading mix-up of the time of the year from a poem about birds finding love. So, how did all that become the Valentine's Day we know now?
The custom of giving gifts to a loved one or to someone you hoped would be your lover is said to have come about in the 18th century. Friends and lovers started by exchanging small gifts or notes and then in the 1840s, Esther Howland an American, began selling printed Valentine’s Day cards on a commercial scale. She is known as the “Mother of the Valentine.”
Today millions of Valentine’s Day cards are purchased and exchanged making it the second-largest card-selling holiday in the world.
Check out a book list of Valentine's Day-themed materials
Valentines Day Love Stories by Anupam Roy
A captivating anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the enchanting world of love on the most romantic day of the year. Within the pages of this collection, love unfolds in diverse and unexpected ways, spanning various genres and settings to create a rich tapestry of emotional narratives.
Valentine's Day by Pearl Markovics
Young readers will learn about Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day (DVD) by Rhonda Fabian
Explore the history behind Valentine's Day, and learn how certain traditions came to be associated with love and the rebirth of spring.
Celebrating American Holidays Valentine's Day by Anita Yasuda
Introduces the history and traditions of Valentine's Day and provides instructions for creating a variety of holiday-themed crafts, including a heart wreath, a pin-wheel bouquet, and chocolate-dipped fruit.