Valentine's Day
The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. This early Christian document honored a martyr named Valentine, though historical records from that era remain sparse and often contradictory. Two Valentines are primarily associated with this date: Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni. Valentine of Rome was a priest who was martyred in 269 and buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino until they were transferred to Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV between 1288 and 1292. The flower-crowned skull of Saint Valentine is currently exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. Another set of relics can be found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna, now known as Terni in central Italy, and was martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273. He is buried on the Via Flaminia but in a different location than his Roman counterpart. Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University Kansas notes that abstracts of the acts of these two saints appeared in nearly every church and monastery across Europe. Contemporary records of Saint Valentine were most probably destroyed during the Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century. A work called Passio Marii et Marthae published a story of martyrdom for Saint Valentine of Rome in the 5th or 6th century. This text may have borrowed tortures from other saints, which was common literature practice at the time. Bede's Martyrology compiled in the 8th century repeated similar events stating that Valentine was interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II personally. Claudius attempted to convert Valentine to Roman paganism to save his life, but Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius instead. Before his execution, he reportedly performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. The jailer's daughter and her forty-six-member household eventually came to believe in Jesus and were baptized.
The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Parliament of Fowls in 1382 as a dream vision portraying a parliament for birds to choose their mates. He stated that this occurred on Saint Valentine's Day when every fowl comes there to choose his match. Henry Ansgar Kelly observed that Chaucer might have had in mind the feast day of St. Valentine of Genoa who died around AD 307 and was probably celebrated on May 3. A treaty providing for Richard II and Anne's marriage was signed on the 2nd of May 1381. The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife while he was held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those in the Paston Letters written in 1477 by Margery Brews to her future husband John Paston. She called him "my right well-beloved Valentine". Saint Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet between 1600 and 1601. John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting point for his epithalamion celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth daughter of James I of England. The verse "Roses are red" echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene published in 1590. Gammer Gurton's Garland published in 1784 contains the modern cliché Valentine's Day poem with lines about roses being red and violets being blue. In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for young lovers unable to compose their own.
Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the United Kingdom despite postage being expensive. A reduction in postal rates following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms with the 1840 invention of the postage stamp known as Penny Black saw the number of Valentines posted increase dramatically. Four hundred thousand cards were sent just one year after its introduction. That made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian. Charles Dickens termed this production "Cupid's Manufactory" where over 3,000 women were employed in manufacturing. Esther Howland of Worcester Massachusetts produced and sold the first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace shortly after 1847. Her father operated a large book and stationery store but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father. She began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife usually to children. When the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities are included the figure goes up to 1 billion. Teachers become the people receiving the most valentines. In the UK just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines and around £1.9 billion was spent in 2015 on cards flowers chocolates and other gifts. Total expenditure topped $18.2 billion in 2017 in the United States which is over $136 per person. Roses especially red roses are the most popular flower. In the US roses are generally imported via refrigerated airplanes from Colombia and Ecuador.
In Brazil the Lovers' Day is celebrated on June 12 probably because that is the day before Saint Anthony's day when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals called qüinquenais in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. The February 14 Valentine's Day is not celebrated at all because it is usually too close to Brazilian Carnival which can fall anywhere from early February to early March and lasts almost a week. Colombia celebrates Love and Friendship Day on the third Saturday in September instead. In Japan Morozoff Ltd introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936 when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later in 1953 it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates and other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958 the Isetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom. The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns. Office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers as part of giri-choco or obligation chocolate while unpopular co-workers receive only cheap chocolate. In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a reply day on which men are expected to return the favor to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. In South Korea women give chocolate to men on February 14 and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14 known as White Day. On April 14 Black Day those who did not receive anything on February or March 14 go to a Chinese-Korean restaurant to eat black noodles and lament their single life.
In Norfolk England a character called Jack Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children although many children were scared of this mystical person. In Slovenia Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims. A proverb says that "Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots" indicating plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. Another proverb states that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. In Finland Valentine's Day is called Friend's Day and is more about remembering friends not significant others. In Estonia Valentine's Day was originally called and later also Friend's Day as a calque of the Finnish term. In Ireland many individuals who seek true love make a Christian pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin where they pray at the shrine in hope of finding romance. There lies a book in which foreigners and locals have written their prayer requests for love. In Wales some people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen on January 25 instead of or as well as Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen the Welsh patron saint of love. In Romania Dragobete a spring festival celebrated in parts of Southern Romania has been rekindled after having been ignored during the Communist years as the traditional Romanian holiday for lovers. Its date used to vary depending on the geographical area however nowadays it is commonly observed on February 24. Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it. The amethyst is the birthstone for February and Saint Valentine is supposed to have worn an amethyst engraved with a figure of Cupid.
Common questions
When was the Feast of Saint Valentine first recorded in historical documents?
The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. This early Christian document honored a martyr named Valentine though historical records from that era remain sparse and often contradictory.
Who were the two Valentines associated with February 14 and when did they die?
Valentine of Rome was martyred in 269 while Valentine of Terni died during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273. Both men are primarily associated with this date but their relics rest in different locations including the Via Flaminia and churches in Rome and Dublin.
How did Valentine's Day become associated with romantic love in history?
The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Parliament of Fowls in 1382 as a dream vision portraying birds choosing mates on Saint Valentine's Day to establish this connection.
What is the origin of sending paper valentines and how many are sent today?
Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories after postal reforms reduced rates following Sir Rowland Hill's invention of the postage stamp known as Penny Black in 1840. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US which rises to 1 billion when school activities are included.
Why do some countries celebrate Valentine's Day on dates other than February 14?
In Brazil the Lovers' Day is celebrated on June 12 because February 14 falls too close to Brazilian Carnival while Colombia celebrates Love and Friendship Day on the third Saturday in September instead. Japan introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936 but later developed unique customs like White Day on March 14 where men return gifts given by women.