1. St. Valentine wasn’t just one person.
Many people know that Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine. But did you know there are actually two St. Valentines? Nobody knows for sure if the holiday originally celebrated St. Valentine of Rome or St. Valentine of Terni, both of whom were martyred. Legends say that St. Valentine of Rome was a priest who defied the Roman Emperor Claudius II’s ban on soldiers getting married and continuing to marry couples in secret. Other stories say that he helped Christians escape Roman prisons and fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, writing her a letter signed “From your Valentine.”
2. Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient Pagan festival.
Valentine’s Day also has pagan roots alongside its connection to St. Valentine. It may have originated in Lupercalia, a festival of fertility celebrated on February 15 in ancient Rome. Lupercalia was dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunus, and the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. It was celebrated with animal sacrifices and gently slapping women and crop fields with goat hides dipped in blood, which was thought to help fertility.
3. In the 1300s, it officially became a holiday associated with love.
The origins of Valentine’s Day are murky. But it is thought to have been made a holiday in the fifth century when Pope Gelasius outlawed the celebration of Lupercalia. It wasn’t until much later that it became associated with romance. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that February 14 was the start of birds’ mating season. Chaucer cemented the connection between Valentine’s Day, birds and romance with his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, “For this was on Seynt Valentynes day, / Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make.” The rest, as they say, is history!
4. Cupid has roots in Greek mythology.
Watch out around Valentine’s Day, or else you may be struck by Cupid’s arrow. According to Time, the ubiquitous cherub can be traced back to 700 B.C. In Ancient Greece, Eros, the Greek god of love, was depicted as a handsome young man and had the power to make people fall madly in love. Over time, he was adopted by the Romans and became known as Cupid, his image changing to the little boy with the bow and arrow. Because of his love-inspiring powers, he became linked to Valentine’s Day by the turn of the 19th century.
5. The first Valentine was sent in the 15th century.
According to History.com, the oldest Valentine we have record of is from 1415. Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote it to his wife while he was a political prisoner in the Tower of London. One of the lines in the poem? “I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine.” Swoon!
6. Not until the 1840s did we get the first mass-produced Valentines.
In the 17th century, people started exchanging cards and letters with their lovers and friends. But the first mass-produced Valentines didn’t arrive on the scene until the 1840s. Known as the “Mother of the American Valentine,” Esther A. Howland sold cards with lace and ribbons that commercialized Valentines in America.
