The History of Valentine's Day

February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts areexchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. Butwho is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? Thehistory of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded inmystery. But we do know that February has long been a month ofromance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestigesof both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was SaintValentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saintsnamed Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during thethird century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that singlemen made better soldiers than those with wives and families, heoutlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers.Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius andcontinued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. WhenValentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be putto death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed forattempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where theywere often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine'greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fellin love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter-- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it isalleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From yourValentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although thetruth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainlyemphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly,romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle ofFebruary to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial-- which probably occurred around 270 A.D -- others claim that theChristian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast dayin the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrationsof the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was theofficial beginning of spring and was considered a time forpurification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out andthen sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout theirinteriors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god ofagriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Romanpriests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus andRemus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by ashe-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, forfertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in thesacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both womenand fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful,Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it wasbelieved the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year.Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the citywould place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year withhis chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasiusdeclared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian andoutlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed inFrance and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' matingseason, which added to the idea that the middle of February --Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance. The oldest knownvalentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Dukeof Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, whichwas written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it isbelieved that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate tocompose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebratedaround the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenthcentury, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes toexchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end ofthe century, printed cards began to replace written letters due toimprovements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy wayfor people to express their emotions in a time when direct expressionof one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates alsocontributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine'sDay greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-madevalentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland beganto sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billionvalentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the secondlargest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billioncards are sent for Christmas.)

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. Inaddition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated inCanada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages(written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and theoldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. Thefirst commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S.were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as theMother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace,ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".