Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year It wasn't until more than years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine's Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism. A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine's Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints.
This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret.
This custom spread throughout Europe and stories grew about a High Court of Love where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year. Historians believe that these meetings were in fact gatherings where people read love poetry and played games of flirtation. The practice of sending love messages developed into people sending special cards expressing their affection.
These cards were beautiful creations handmade by the sender and individually designed to show how much they loved the recipient. It's believed that the Catholic Church may have established St. Valentine's Day in order to honor these men, who they believed to be martyrs. What's more, it's possible that one of these men, Saint Valentine of Terni, had been secretly officiating weddings for Roman soldiers against the emperor's wishes, making him, in some eyes, a proponent of love.
Another story involves the practice of writing love letters to your Valentine. It's said that St. Others believe that St.
Valentine's Day was actually designated by Pope Gelasius I in order to replace the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunas, and Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
The feast of debauchery fell around the same time and involved a ritual where an order of Roman priests ran naked through the streets, "gently slapping" women with the blood-soaked hides of sacrificed animals yes, really , which they believed promoted fertility. Following this flagellation was a tradition in which men selected women's names at random from a jar to decide who would remain together for the next year, or, if they fell in love, they'd marry.
Oruch , had a different theory, notes the Times : Through research, he determined that the poet Geoffrey Chaucer linked love with St. At the time of Chaucer's writing, February 14 also happened to be considered the first day of spring in Britain, because it was the beginning of birds' mating season—perfectly appropriate for a celebration of affection. Whether or not Chaucer can be fully credited, it is true that he and fellow writer Shakespeare popularized the amorous associations surrounding the day.
Soon, people began penning and exchanging love letters to celebrate Valentine's Day, and by the early s, an American company that would one day become Hallmark began distributing its more official "Valentine's Day cards. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.
There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine". To enjoy Newsround at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. If you cannot see the interactive activity on this page, click here. One Saint Valentine was The St. Valentine who inspired the holiday may have been two different men. Officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, St. Valentine is known to be a real person who died around A.
However, his true identity was questioned as early as A. Gang warfare ruled the streets of Chicago during the late s, as chief gangster Al Capone sought to consolidate control by eliminating his rivals in The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1, years. On St. Lupercalia was an ancient pagan festival held each year in Rome on February But where did this tradition come from?
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