Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy this day with someone special, someone who can help keep you warm on a chilly February night midway through the winter season.
Valentine's Day has come to be a special day for many reasons and by many people. Many people, including those in the business of flowers, chocolates, fancy restaurants, and cards, await this year for a very long time, to say nothing of eager young couples. But did you ever wonder why it was that we hold this day as so special, and signifying the romance that it is supposed to represent?
The origins of what we now call Valentine's Day has it's roots all the way back during the days of the Roman Empire , although there is some debate as to the accuracy of this tale. There is a popularly held myth regarding it, however, and we can see the modern day origins of what we presently know now as "Valentine's Day".
There was a festival held every February called the Lupercian Festival, which would later be outlawed as a pagan ritual. It was in honor of the God of Fertility and, fittingly enough, the idea behind this festival was for young men to pick women to have as wives, with the idea towards building a family somewhere down the line. Pope Gelasius eventually outlawed this festival, dismissing it as a pagan ritual.
Before that happened, however, a war-minded Roman Emperor, Claudius, decided to change all of that, because he feared that young men would not be so willing to go off to war if they had wives that could provide warmth and comfort. So, he put a stop to that by abolishing marriages. So, where's the romance in all of that?
Well, it is called Saint Valentine's day for a reason. After all, Claudius might officially be able to abolish marriage, but he could not abolish love. Young men and women still feel for each other, and they would try and find ways to tie the knot. One man was willing to help: Bishop Valentine. He disliked this law, and secretly married couples of his own accord, at great risk to himself.
Of course, the story does not end there. Claudius found out, and then Valentine was, predictably, thrown in jail. Yet, even this was not enough to end this story of love. We celebrate Valentine to this day, because his spirit was stronger than that force which tried to break him. His spirit was that of love, of course.
While waiting in jail, he fell in love himself, with the blind daughter of his jailer, Austerius, no less. Allegedly, Valentine healed this young woman of her blindness. This itself would sound incredible enough, yet this legend was further embellished by an American card company, that claimed that he wrote her a letter, and his own trademark was his distinctive sign off, "From your Valentine".
Again, though, the accuracy of this legend is questionable. It sounds great, but how accurate can it be, right? It just sounds like a movie, but not something that really happened. Still, the legend has stuck, although, in fact, there is debate as to who this Valentine was, and if he, indeed, was really only one person. Almost assuredly, the popular legend that has been passed through the ages is riddled with inaccuracies, but it does make for a nice story to tell your significant other on this of all days.
There is more, however. The first known association with Valentine's Day to love came centuries ago in England
"For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make"
This was evidently the root of the label "love birds". There is controversy, however, as to what date Chaucer was actually referring to, since there are not many birds in England
Consequently, the oldest known Valentine was written by Charles (my namesake!), the Duke of Orleans, who wrote one to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, after he was captured following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415l He wrote:
"Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée..."
Anyone who knows me knows I just wanted to whip out my French for this day, right?
Valentine's Day is known for poetry, and it was not just Chaucer and Shakespeare that got wrapped up in that. Many people have tried to write their sweethearts some love letter or poem and, famously, one of the most commonly used opening lines in the English language begins with "Roses are red, violets are blue". Now, this has a clear origin, as well, and it too is associated with Valentine's Day. It was written by Edmund Spencer, who wrote in his poem, "The Faerie Queene" some lines that would have more spin offs than almost any other lines in the language:
"She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew"
So, what about another iconic figure of love, and particularly prominent on Valentine's Day, Cupid? In ancient Rome
Of course, I am a big advocate of people doing their own research, exploring things of their own accord, if they have a strong enough interest. So, if you have such an interest in this "history of love", here are few websites, not including the obvious Wikepedia page, that I found helpful in writing this miniature history of the legend behind Valentine's Day:
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