Will you be my valentine?

On the history of the day of love

By: Morgan Watters

Staff-Writer/Cartoonist

Chocolate, candy, flowers and love are something many of us enjoy. However, that is only the surface of what we know as Valentine’s Day.

This holiday was originally the pagan holiday of Lupercalia, which was celebrated Feb. 15 to honor the Roman god of fertility, Faunus. Lupercalia was outlawed in the fifth century by Pope Gelasius, who then declared Valentine’s Day to be Feb. 14.

So, why is it called Valentine’s Day? Who is Valentine?

There are many legends about who Saint Valentine was and what he did. Some legends say that he was a Saint who married couples in secret when the Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage because he wanted single soldiers.

Other legends say that Saint Valentine was imprisoned for helping Christians escape Roman prisons. During this time, he sent the first “valentine” to his love. Not-so-romantically, both legends end in Valentine’s beheading.

Interestingly, Valentine’s Day was not associated with love until the Middle Ages. During this time, it was believed that Feb. 14 was the first day of the bird’s mating season. The first romantic record of Valentine’s Day came in the year 1375 from the poet Geoffrey Chaucer when he related Valentine’s Day to the mating season of the birds.

Eventually Paganism made its way back into Valentine’s Day (after it had been romanticized) through the addition of the Roman god of love, Cupid.

In the 18th century, cards and tokens were exchanged on Valentine’s Day and the tradition continues to this day. So, next time someone calls Valentine’s Day nothing but a “Hallmark Holiday,” let them know there’s a little more history behind it than they might think.