On February 14th, also known as Valentine’s Day, people everywhere shower their loved ones with gifts, flowers, and candy. It’s the globally celebrated day of love that’s evolved beyond honoring only romantic love, to include the platonic love of family, friendship, and community.
But where did it all come from? What is the history of Valentine’s Day? Who is cupid and why does he shoot arrows of love at people? Let’s delve into the fascinating roots and traditions of Valentine’s.
What is Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day is the ultimate day of love. Celebrated annually on February 14th all over the world, it’s the perfect opportunity to show your love and affection for those who matter most.
It was once a day reserved for couples and sweethearts to celebrate their romantic bond, but the singletons rightly pointed out that love isn’t only reserved for those in relationships. It exists everywhere, for everybody, and Valentine’s Day has been reclaimed to celebrate love in all forms.
Today, beyond the Valentine’s Day traditions of celebrating romantic love, it includes honoring love in friendship—aka ‘Galentine’s Day’. It’s also a time to practice self-love, to show love to your family, neighbours, situationships, or even the postman! To quote Love Actually—love really is all around.
Where Did Valentine’s Day Come From?
February 14th is universally recognized as the day of love but how did Valentine’s Day originate? Let’s start right at the beginning, looking at the ancient roots of Valentine’s Day.
Some trace Valentine’s Day history all the way back to ancient Rome, when they celebrated Lupercalia, the pagan festival of fertility. Held between February 13th and 15th, members of the Luperci (an order of Roman priests) gathered at a cave where it was believed that the founders of Rome were raised by a she-wolf, or Lupa.
Here, the priests sacrificed a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. The goat’s hides were turned into strips and used to gently slap both women and crop fields to encourage fertility. On the same day, young women placed their names in an urn, which were then picked out by Roman bachelors. These pairings then spent the remainder of the festival together and would often end up marrying.
Around the end of the 5th century, as Christianity spread throughout Europe, Lupercalia was banned. The Pope Gelasius instead marked February 14th as St. Valentine’s Day, in what was thought to be an attempt to “Christianize” the pagan celebration.
You might think that that’s when Valentine’s Day became the Valentine’s Day that we all know and love—but the day wasn’t all about love just yet. Let’s take a closer look at St. Valentine’s Day’s meaning.
Who Created Valentine’s Day? A Look at Saint Valentine
Back in 3rd century Rome, Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men, deciding that single men made better soldiers. Seeing the injustice in that ruling, a priest named Valentine secretly continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers. Unfortunately, the Emperor Claudius found out about Valentine’s undercover weddings and ordered that he be put to death. The date of his execution was—you guessed it—February 14th.
While the Catholic church recognizes other Saint Valentine’s, this story is the most widely accepted as the romantic figure behind Valentine’s Day history.
Valentine’s Day Meaning Through the Ages
Now that we know the story of who created Valentine’s Day, we can look at how Valentine’s meaning evolved over time.
In the Middle Ages, it was widely believed throughout England and France that the bird mating season began on February 14th. Seeing as the love birds were having their own… celebrations, it made the idea of Valentine’s Day even more romantic.
The first written record of Valentine’s Day being celebrated as a day of romance is found in Geoffrey Chaucer’s 1375 poem titled Parliament of Fowls, in which he wrote “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.”
Shakespeare also played his part in the romanticization of Valentine’s Day. In fact, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream which has connections to Lupercal, he even builds on Chaucer's claim that birds couple together on Valentine’s night.
Who doesn’t love a handmade paper card? Around this time, it became popular to make your own cards for your lover. When the Industrial Revolution came around, factories began producing cards to sell. In 1913, Hallmark—a name you may still be familiar with—began mass producing Valentine’s cards, marking the beginning of the commercialization of Valentine’s Day.
Fascinating Valentine’s Day Facts You Might Not Know
So, we’ve covered goat sacrifices, fertility festivals, and untimely deaths. We’ve also answered questions like where did Valentine’s day come from and when did valentine’s day start, but we’ve still not covered Cupid.
Cupid is the unofficial mascot of Valentine’s Day. He’s a flying nude cherub who shoots arrows at people to make them fall in love—but where did that idea come from?
Cupid is actually a Roman God, with roots in Greek mythology as Eros, the God of love. Ancient Greek poets portrayed Eros as a handsome God who used golden arrows to spread love and leaden ones to spread aversion. During the Hellenistic period, he transformed into the cheeky chubby child that comes out on Valentine’s Day to play matchmaker.
Another beautiful Valentine's Day tradition that will pull at your heartstrings is the phenomenon of Letters Addressed to 'Juliet'. Each year, thousands of romantics write letters to Juliet in Verona, Italy—where Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was set. These letters are answered by a group of volunteers from the Juliet Club. On Valentine’s Day, the volunteers award the "Cara Giulietta" ("Dear Juliet") prize to the most heartfelt love letter.
How Valentine’s Day Traditions Shape Our Celebrations Today
Today, lovers gift bouquets of flowers, chocolates, plants, jewelry, gift baskets, or even unique gifts to their sweethearts. One of the most popular gifts of Valentine’s Day has to be a bouquet of 12 red roses, symbolizing the epitome of love and romance.
The tradition of sending a box of chocolates was started by none other than Mr. Richard Cadbury. He saw how Hallmark was commercializing the holiday and successfully did the same with his family’s chocolate company. Clearly it worked, as the Cadbury brand is still very much thriving to this day!
Do you sign off your Valentine’s cards with kisses? Well, one of the lesser known Valentine’s Day facts is how the “X” came about. In the Middle Ages, the X was representative of the Christian cross. People began to sign off their documents with an X and would kiss it to symbolize their oath. As more and more people performed the gesture, the phrase “sealed with a kiss” grew.
The Timeless Appeal of Valentine’s Day
While the way we celebrate the history of Valentine’s Day has changed a lot since its origin, isn’t it nice to know that we uphold some of the traditions of our ancestors long before us?
We still celebrate love, honor the bravery of St. Valentine, write each other love letters, and give beautiful flowers to our loved ones. If anything, it’s grown to allow room for even more love to be celebrated on the day.
Want to show your partner, friends, family, or co-worker how much you care? Lovingly’s collection of thoughtful Valentine's Day floral arrangements and gifts are the perfect choice!
