All over the world people celebrate Valentine's Day, but most people do not know the reason that they are celebrating. The history of this holiday is about as cloudy as the meaning of love itself. There are Christian and Roman takes on the holiday.There are three St. Valentines in history which the Catholic church recognizes. One St. Valentine married soldiers to their lovers in secret. Emperor Claudius II had banned soldiers from getting married because he believed single men made better warriors. Another Valentine helped Christians escape from Roman dungeons. He would sign his notes "from your Valentine" to the jailor's daughter whom he fell in love with. During the Middle Ages this tale became increasingly popular.
Lupercalia was a Roman tradition that was like Valentine's day. Historians believe that Christians may have made a religious version of this holiday to celebrate. The Roman version was celebrated on the ides of February or better known as the date February 15. Lupercalia mainly commemorated fertility. Young women would put their name in an urn and single men would pull a name out and be with that women for the next year. Normally these pairings ended in marriage.
When Lupercalia was later made illegal, Pope Gelasius made February 14 Valentine's Day. The Middle Ages turned this into a holiday to celebrate love. This was also around the bird's mating season which people in that time took note of. This strengthened the idea that this time of the year was about love.
Valentine's day did not become extremely popular until the 1600's. Handwritten notes and small gifts soon became associated with the holiday. This is a day for everyone to celebrate an emotion that each person feels towards someone.
0 comments