Thursday will end with the exchange of cards, candies and flowers for most folks, but the man for whom Valentine’s Day is named had anything but a storybook ending to his day.
In fact, he wound up losing his head over it - literally.
But it seems there are multiple theories as to the holiday’s origin.
- Some historians believe that Valentine’s Day is named in honor of two Christian martyrs - Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni (sometimes thought to be the same person).
- The holiday is sometimes associated with romantic love in Geoffrey Chaucer’s time in the High Middle Ages.
- Still, other theories place the beginnings of what is now known as Valentine’s Day to a mid-February Roman custom in which young boys drew the names of young girls on pieces of paper in honor of Februata Juno, the goddess of sex and fertility.
- By the 13th century, the English had begun to associate Valentine’s Day with the Feast of Valentine, a time in which love letters written by men and women were exchanged. The practice even included the pinning of bay leaves to one’s pillow on Valentine’s Eve in hopes that one would meet their future mate in their dreams.
And while romance will no doubt be in the air, the pages of history tell the story of Valentine’s Day a little differently, according to Joseph Kicklighter, a professor of history at Auburn University.
“It’s a pagan celebration that just so happens to coincide with the martyrdom of St. Valentine,” Kicklighter said. “The holiday isn’t related to romance even though nowadays people associate it with it. During that time, it was not uncommon for holidays on the Christian calendar to overlap with pagan holidays.”
But one story about the origin of Valentine’s Day has just as much to do with war as it does with romance.
It is believed by some that during the rule of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, that during a military campaign, Claudius was recruiting several young men for his army.
Because some of the men had recently been married, they were reluctant to join Claudius’ ranks and go off to fight. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages, only to have a defiant priest named Valentine continue to arrange marriages in secret.
For his treasonous act, Valentine was imprisoned and later beaten to death and beheaded about 270 A.D.
“St. Valentine was a priest, so we’re talking about a very moral, Christian man,” Kicklighter said. “(Valentine would) probably be horrified to see what Hallmark has done to his reputation, but it’s good for selling cards, so I guess we’ll just let it go.”
(Valentines Day History: www.catholic-forum.com and www.ethnic2020.com)
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