The History of Valentine’s Day

 

A History of Valentine’s Day

The origins of Valentine’s Day are probably not based in romance at all but in Christian, Roman and Pagan traditions.

Three early Saint Valentine’s martyrs are honoured by the Catholic Church, having met their respective deaths in Rome, Terni and Africa.

Of these, the most romantic legend by far is that relating to the death of Valentine of Rome in AD 269: a priest who continued to marry young couples in secret, after the emperor Claudius ll banned marriage for single men in the belief that they made better soldiers when unhampered by the travails of true love; whilst he awaited his beheading in prison, Valentine miraculously healed the jailer’s blind daughter with whom he subsequently fell in love, and sent her a letter as he went to his death (that happily she was now able to read), signed with the immortal words: “From your Valentine.”

Another legend regarding the origin of Valentine’s Day is linked to the Queen of Roman Gods: Juno, said to rule the affairs of women and marriage. This goddess was traditionally honoured on February 14th followed by the feast of Lupercalia that marked the official beginning of spring, and involved a fertility rite whereby young men pursued young women all over the city with the aim of slapping them with strips of goats’ hide dipped in sacrificial blood, believed to bring fertility; later, a kind of lottery would take place whereby the names of single women in the city were drawn out of an urn by eligible bachelors, sometimes leading to marriage.

This Pagan festival was subsequently usurped by the Christian church and turned into Valentine’s feast day.

Centuries after these events, the first mention of Valentine’s Day in literature was made in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parlement of Foules, written in 1382 to celebrate the first anniversary of the engagement of Richard ll of England to Anne of Bohemia: “For this was on seynt Volantynys day, Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make”. 

But the earliest surviving Valentine dates from 1415, displayed in the manuscript collection at the British Library; it was written from the Tower of London by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife, after his capture at the Battle of Agincourt, and reads: “Je suis desja d’amour tanne, Ma tres doulce Valentinee…”

Valentine’s Day is also mentioned in Act lV of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when Ophelia says: “To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine.”

In 1797 The Young Man’s Valentine Writer was published in Britain, containing suggested poetry for inarticulate young lovers, while the unromantically named ‘Mechanical Valentines’ – complete with sketches and verses – became commonplace. Their success was facilitated by a reduction in postal rates that enabled people to send anonymously, as well as improvements in print technology; later, the repressed Victorians used the Valentines to express slightly saucy sentiments.

The first mass produced Valentines in the US were created by Esther Howland in 1847, but it wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century that gifts began to be sent along with the cards.

Nowadays a candle-lit meal for two is an increasingly popular option: but be warned though, you would do well to book in advance for Valentine’s Day, as it is one of the most popular days of the year for mass dining out.

Hopefully you won’t be slapped with a strip of goat’s hide!

Valentine’s Events in Chester

If you would like to see your Valentine’s Event listed here, email information to support@directoryofchester.net