Valentines Day

History behind it

The holiday is named after Saint Valentine

Valentine is likely based on a combo of two valentines who were executed on February 14 in different years by Roman emperor Claudius ll in the third century ACE. The Catholic Church may have established Saint Valentine’s Day to honor these two martyrs.

Legend, says that one of these men, Saint Valentine of Terni had officiated weddings for Roman soldiers in secret, that may have been against the emperors wishes, making him a proponent of love, after being imprisoned, he wrote letters to a girl he tutored, and fell in love with, signing from your valentine.

It is also suggested that Valentine’s Day has pagan origins. There was a mid February, fertility festival in Ancient Rome called Lupercalia, which some believe was a forerunner to Valentine’s Day, dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture Fausas and Roman founders, Romulus and Remus this feast of debauchery involved, a ritual, where a order of Roman priests ran naked through the streets, gently slapping women with blood soaked hides of sacrificed animals, which they thought promoted fertility. The women would be paired off by a lottery. Charming🤷‍♀️ Pope Kelasius 1 outlawed Lupercalia and replaced it with Saint valentines on February 14 to replace the pagan holiday.

Saint Valentine’s Day didn’t become a romantic holiday till the middle ages. Thanks to Geoffry Chaucer he was the first to link love with Valentine’s Day. Chaucer‘s 14th century works “The Parliament of Fowls”, and the fact that February 14 was considered in the middle ages the first day of spring in Britain, because it was the beginning of the birds, mating season, appropriate for a celebration of affection . Chaucer’s book The Parliament of Fowls , is about Anthropomorphized birds choosing mates.

Chaucer wrote …

“For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day, when every fowl comes there to take his mate”.

Mid 19th century begins the commercialization of valentine day traditions as we know it today. In the 1910s an American company that one day would become Hallmark began distributing, Official valentine cards.

Valentine’s Day, and Cupid is another symbol of love. Cupid was the son of Venus goddess of love and beauty, his shooting of arrows at gods and humans would make them instantly fall in love.❤️❤️

A sidenote, I had two Siamese cats, and we named them, Romulus and Remus❤️