HISTORY OF VALENTINE DAY – From www.smartkidsplay.com
The early roots of Valentine’s Day started during the ancient Roman Empire. According to legend it was celebrated in mid February and was known as The Feast of Lupercalia named after the pagan god Lupercalia. On the eve of the feast of Lupercalia the names of young Roman girls were put into a jar and each young man would select a name and that girl would be his partner for the festival.
So how did Valentine Day become a Christian holiday?
The history of Valentine Day has taken some twists and turns.
Emperor Claudius II of Rome led many unpopular and deadly military battles. Recruiting soldiers to fight these battles became more and more difficult. Claudius began to think that men did not want to leave their wives and families to go to battle. So he banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine was a Catholic Bishop in Rome at the time and he started to secretly marry couples, which was against the law. Needless to say Emperor Claudius wasn’t too happy about Valentines activities and Valentine, who was eventually made a saint, was beheaded. He was martyred on February 14th in about the year 270 AD.
The early Christian church wanted to do away with the pagan celebration of the feast of Lupercalia. So they changed the celebration to honor St. Valentine and had February 14th the day of the celebration. The history of Valentine Day wouldn’t be complete without the history of Valentine cards.
When did Valentine cards come about?
It is said that the first Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was a prisoner in the Tower of London at the time. Today Valentines cards rank second only to Christmas cards for the number of greeting cards sent.