Valentine’s Day: From Christian Martyrs to Chocolate

Valentine’s Day is one of the most celebrated yet least understood holidays in the Western world. Today, he is known for expressing his love or affection for another. This could be your spouse, significant other, grandchild or parent.

The history of the holiday begins in ancient Rome with the execution on February 14 of a Christian named Valentine, known today as Saint Valentine. Many historians have pieced together moments of history to tell a story based on the surviving records of the Roman period.

So how did Valentine’s Day come about? Here are answers to some common questions about the origins of Valentine’s Day:

Where did the word “Valentine” come from?

Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine of Rome, a beloved martyr who was executed on February 14 in the 3rd century AD. However, there were actually several Christians named Valentine who were executed during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus. At a time when Christians were being killed, including being burned at the stake to light up the streets of Rome like lampposts, the number of executions of religious protectors known as martyrs was on the rise.

Stories of the religious heroism of this Christian named Valentine were later celebrated by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day.

Who is Saint Valentine Really?

The two most famous Saint Valentines were Roman Christians and one of the first bishops of the growing Christian movement. A priest named Valentine was arrested for his beliefs and taken into custody. Valentine made a deal with the man who guarded him that if he could cure his adopted daughter of his blindness, he would convert to Christianity from Roman paganism. Valentine miraculously healed the girl, and the guard and his whole family accepted Christ as their Savior. When the emperor heard the news, he ordered the execution of the entire family.

The second Valentine found himself in a similar situation; he argued with a potential convert and ended up healing the man’s son. The same emperor Gothic executed him, as well as the man he had converted. Some believe that these people are two interpretations of the same story, but no one knows who the real Saint Valentine was.

Over time, the story of these martyrs was passed down from generation to generation and developed into a Christian celebration of their death. Later, the Catholic Church established Valentine’s Day in honor of these martyrs.

First Valentine

In medieval legends and what is often portrayed in modern media, Saint Valentine married couples in secret to protect young people from war. Other stories say that Saint Valentine fell in love with a blind girl whom he healed, and that he wrote her the first “valentine” in prison, a letter that he allegedly signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still used today. Today. However, there is no historical evidence to support these stories.

Lupercalia

The Christian church may have placed the feast of St. Valentine in mid-February to compete with the pagan fertility celebration of the Lupercalia.

Lupercalia

The Lupercalia was originally a sacred gathering of pagan Roman priests that took place from February 13 to 15. The pagan ritual involved sacrificing a dog and a goat and walking the streets covering women in skins for what they believed to be fertility. An equally strange part of the festival was the tradition of women placing their names in an urn for bachelors to choose from. The female name they drew was their sexual partner for the duration of the festival, and often paired couples would marry.

How was Valentine’s Day celebrated for the first time?

After the Roman emperor Constantine and the empire converted to Christianity, the Lupercalia was outlawed. However, at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelantis declared February 14 “the feast of St. Valentine”, saving this day from an unruly holiday. Historians still debate whether this action was to cover up the Lupercalia or in honor of Saint Valentine’s religious heroism.

Valentine’s Day love story

The first official mention of Valentine’s Day of romance finally came over a thousand years after the martyrdom, when Geoffrey Chaucer, a medieval poet, decreed that the February feast of Valentine should be associated with the mating of birds. English birds mate in February, and shortly after Chaucer’s mention in his Parliament of Fools, European nobility began sending love notes during bird mating season. Shortly thereafter, Shakespeare’s love maiden Ophelia called herself Hamlet’s Valentine. The holiday romance of Chaucer and Shakespeare in their work soon began to gain popularity in Britain and the rest of Europe. In 1415, Charles, Duke of Orléans wrote to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London after being captured at the Battle of Agincourt. Even King Henry V hired a writer to write a valentine to Catherine of Valois, which led to the love letter being associated with the day.

What does Valentine’s Day mean today?

So how were we able to celebrate Valentine’s Day with flowers, chocolates and love notes when it started from such a dark place of Christian persecution?

As we have said, for millennia, mid-February has been widely known for the celebration of fertility, so it is not surprising that romance is associated with this holiday. Whether or not Chaucer and Shakespeare can be entirely trusted, there is no doubt that they popularized the current associations surrounding the day. Today, people continue to send flowers on special occasions or to express feelings of love and admiration. In addition to flowers, other modern symbols of Valentine’s Day are chocolates, heart candies and cards.

Notes, gifts and chocolates, oh my!

In 17th century Britain, it became common for friends and lovers to exchange small gifts and handwritten notes. Eventually, the tradition made its way to the American colonies, and in the 19th century, along with the Industrial Revolution, factory-made Valentine’s Day cards appeared. Lower postage rates boosted the popularity of Valentine’s Day greetings, and Esther A. Howland pioneered the mass production of the first valentines made from lace, ribbons, and colorful images. She soon became known as “Mother Valentine”. Enter Hallmark cards and the rest is history!

The first box of chocolates was created by Richard Cadbury, who began packing chocolates in fancy boxes in an attempt to increase sales. He created the first heart-shaped candy box in 1861, and today over 36 million heart-shaped candy boxes are sold annually. The first heart lozenges were also made by Boston pharmacist Oliver Chase as a medical lozenge used for sore throats. Words like “Happy Valentine’s Day” and “Honey” didn’t appear on candy until much later.

Where did flowers come from?

Since fertility was also associated with agriculture, Valentine’s Day flowers naturally became a favorite gift. For centuries, flowers have symbolized fertility, love, marriage and romance. The story of giving flowers to a loved one on Valentine’s Day comes from the old-fashioned custom of sending flower bouquets to convey non-verbal messages. Charles II of Sweden is credited with introducing the “Persian language of flowers” tradition to Europe by sending the first bouquet on Valentine’s Day, using each flower to convey a specific meaning, allowing conversation without words.

Red and white roses are by far the most popular Valentine’s Day flower arrangements, with red representing “romance, love, beauty and courage” and white representing “purity, loyalty and innocence”. A red rose without thorns can mean “love at first sight”. Other rose colors can be used to represent friendship (yellow), appreciation (peach), charm (lavender), or sweetness and grace (pink).

The beauty of the rose was explained by ancient myths about divine creation. The Greek goddess Chloris discovered a dead forest nymph and turned her into a flower; her husband Zephyr blew away the clouds so that Apollo’s sun could radiate warming rays. Aphrodite added the beauty and fragrant nectar of Dionysus, while the three Graces endowed the new rose with charm, joy and splendor. Then the “Queen of Flowers” was presented to the son of Aphrodite, Eros, the deity of love.

Statistics show that over 80% of Valentine’s Day gifts include roses, and that nearly a third of all American adults will purchase plants or flowers as a Valentine’s Day gift.

How about a flying baby?

In Roman mythology, Cupid was the mischievous son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. He was known for shooting arrows at both gods and humans, causing them to instantly fall in love with each other. Renaissance artists such as Caravaggio created an enduring depiction of Cupid as a winged boy with a bow and arrow, which was later placed on early 19th century greeting cards.

Valentine’s Day: Facts and FAQs

According to the United States Greeting Cards Association, around a billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent worldwide each year, making it the second largest postcard-sending holiday. Take a look below for some fun facts about Valentine’s Day and answers to frequently asked questions about the history of Valentine’s Day!

–ProFlowers.com |