No one is absolutely sure of the origin of Valentine’s Day. There have been many theories. One that some experts have taken on is that it originated from a Roman called St. Valentine. He was martyred as he refused to give up Christianity. He died on the same day that had traditionally been used to honour the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddess, Juno, February 14th 269AD. This theory also states that St. Valentine left a note signed ‘From Your Valentine’ for his new friend, the jailer’s daughter. Another legend tells of Saint Valentine serving as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. In this story, he was jailed for defying Claudius.
Claudius was a blood-thirsty Emperor who the people of Rome had grown to fear and hate. Known as Claudius the Cruel, he was having difficulty recruiting more soldiers for his bloody campaign and blamed it on Roman men not wanting to leave their loved ones. In an attempted to change this, his band all engagements and weddings in Rome. The priest Valentine and Saint Marius defied this order and secretly helped the Christian martyres by marrying couples in secret. When this good deed was discovered, Valentine was taken before the Prefect of Rome who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and be beheaded on February 14th.
With either tale, in 496AD Pope Gelasius declared that February 14th would be set aside to honour St. Valentine.
Over the years, St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers as February 14th started to be used as the day to exchange love messages. This grew into the sending of poems and gifts, such as flowers. It was even celebrated with social gatherings and balls. The date was finally commercialised in the 1800’s and has since become a say of sending valentine cards and gifts to your love or someone you admire.
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