Beyond the Box of Chocolates: The Strange and Surprising History of Valentine’s Day
Every February, we are inundated with red hearts, lace, and sentimental cards. We treat Valentine’s Day as a modern, commercial invention designed to sell greeting cards and jewelry. However, the true history of Valentine’s Day is far more ancient, far stranger, and significantly more “un-romantic” than the modern version suggests.
To understand why we celebrate love in the middle of February, we have to look back at ancient Rome, martyred saints, and the curious evolution of Western culture.
- The Pagan Roots: Lupercalia
Before it was a day for saints and sweethearts, mid-February was the time of Lupercalia. Held from February 13 to 15, this was a wild, pastoral festival intended to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.
The rituals were… unique. Roman priests (Luperci) would sacrifice goats and a dog, then cut thongs from the goats’ hides (called februa, which gives the month its name). They would run around the city, gently striking women with these hide thongs, a practice believed to ensure fertility and ease the pains of childbirth. It was a far cry from a candlelight dinner, but it set the foundation for mid-February as a time for “pairing up.”
- The Mysterious Saint Valentine
As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, pagan festivals were often replaced or “baptized” into Christian holidays. In the late 5th century, Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia and declared February 14th as St. Valentine’s Day.
But who was Valentine? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
- One legend suggests Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice, defied the decree and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
- When his actions were discovered, he was sentenced to death. Legend says that while in prison, he sent the first “valentine” card to his jailer’s daughter, signing it “From your Valentine”—an expression we still use 1,700 years later.
- Chaucer and the Invention of Romance
For centuries after the fall of Rome, the day remained a somber religious feast. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that it became linked with romantic love. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is often credited with this shift. In his 1382 poem Parlement of Foules, he wrote: “For this was on seynt Volantynys day, Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make” (For this was on St. Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes there to choose his mate).
During the Victorian era, the holiday exploded in popularity with the invention of the postal service and the mass production of paper valentines. What started as a bloody Roman ritual and a somber martyrdom had finally evolved into the multi-billion dollar industry of love we recognize today.
This February 14th, as you exchange cards and gifts, remember the long, winding path this holiday took. Whether it’s secretly performing marriages or simply sending a handwritten note, the core of the day remains the same: a brief, bright pause in the middle of winter to celebrate the people who make life worth living.