The History of Valentine’s Day
We’ve all heard of Valentine’s Day. Red roses, handouts to your class, fancy little letters covered in hearts, ect, ect. The real question is why? Why do we do all this for a random day in February? Let’s find out!
It all starts with Saint Valentine. One legend claims that he, (or they considering there were at least 3 of them) when Emperor Claudius II outlawed the marriage of young men, began to marry couples in secret. When he was discovered, he was executed. Other Saint Valentines were executed for refusing to convert or helping imprisoned Christians.
Some people believe that the reason Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February is to memorialize his death. Others believe it was an attempt to Christianize the festival Lupercalia, which was dedicated to the Roman god ,Faunus, of agriculture. During Lupercalia,strips of goat hide would be dipped in blood and slapped on crops, or other things that the Romans wanted to be fertile. Bachelors would pull names of women and then “match” with that woman for the rest of the year, often resulting in marriage. The attempt to Christianize Lupercalia failed, and thus it was outlawed.
And the final mystery we need to solve is…love! Where did we even get love out of Saint Valentine’s death? Well, during the middle ages, people held the belief that Valentines Day was the beginning of the bird’s mating season. This led to “ we should have a day of love too!”.
Now we know! It all starts with Saint Valentine, then Lupercalia, and lastly the birds. Have fun with this knowledge on Valentine’s Day!
