First things first! There is no single Saint Valentine ... The Valentines are generally considered as Christian martyred saints. And at least three of these Saint Valentines were martyred on February 14 in the second and third century A.D. and have been linked to Saint Valentine's Day. Over time these Valentines' individual histories were lost and elements of romance added to their biographies. One of these Saint Valentine's was said to be a priest in Rome during the third century A.D. When Roman Emperor Claudius II, forbade young men to marry, as he believed that being un-attached would make them better soldiers, Valentine went against the ban and performed marriages in secret. For his defiance, Valentine was executed on February 14. Another story is that Valentine was helping Christians escape from Roman prisons, where they were tortured and kept in harsh conditions. While in prison before being martyred, he is said to have fallen in love with his jailer's daughter and sent her a letter before his death, which he signed 'From your Valentine' I an expression which is still used today.How far these stories are true cannot be ascertained, but Saint Valentine came to represent a heroic, kind and romantic figure.
The day for lovers can also trace its roots to the Roman annual pagan celebration of Lupercalia which was celebrated wildly even in the fifth century A.D., after Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. February was the start of spring and Lupercalia was celebrated as a fertility festival in honour of Faunus, the Roman God of Agriculture and Roman founders Romulus and Remus. The festival involved the cleaning and purifying of homes, animal sacrifices and men stripped naked and using goat or dog-skin whips to whip young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility. There are claims that in order to Christianise the ancient Roman festival, which took place in mid- February, the Christian church decided to celebrate Saint Valentine's Feast Day around the same time as well.
In England and France of the Middle Ages, Saint Valentine's Day celebrated on February 14, was acknowledged as a day for romance. English poet Geoffrey Chaucer even made a reference to Valentine's Day in a poem he wrote celebrating the one year anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia, which had taken place on May 2, 1381. However, ironically, the Saint Valentine he was referring to in his poem, was another Saint Valentine, a Bishop of Genoa who had died on May 2 in the fourth century A.D.The oldest known valentine's note still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans in 1415. He wrote it to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, following h is capture at the Battle of Agincourt. King Henry V of England is said have hired a writer to compose a valentine note to send to Catherine of Valois. Valentine's Day is even mentioned by Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
By the seventeenth century in Great Britain, Valentine's Day was popularly celebrated. It was common to exchange small tokens of affection as well as hand written notes. This practice spread to America as well. The commercialisation of Valentine's Day started around the eighteenth century onwards. First, cards called valentines made out of paper evolved to fancy versions containing lace and ribbons. In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines embossed paper lace were produced and sold by Esther Howland in 1847.In time, handwritten valentines gave way to bulk-produced greeting cards. And, the practice of exchanging cards extended to gifts that included roses and chocolates in heart shaped boxes. It is now also being promoted as an occasion to give expensive jewellery to your loved one. The market for valentine's Day cards has also blossomed beyond lovers to include parents, children, sibling, and friends. And Valentine's Day has evolved to become a day 'honouring love and affection.
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