A history of St Valentine's Day - Laura Glucina, St Michaels

Three St Valentines?

Early sources suggest there was not just one St Valentine associated with February 14th, but three. The first Valentine martyr is thought to have died in the Roman Province of Africa (made up of modern day Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria), although not much else is known about him. 

The other two, St Valentine of Rome, and St Valentine of Terni, are more well known - and might even be the same person. Accounts suggest that they both were members of the clergy, both performed miracles, baptisms, and conversions, both were persecuted and killed under the Emperor Gothicus, and both were buried on the Via Flaminia in Rome. There are two distinct accounts of both Valentines, but the very similar story has led some to believe that the two different saints have come from two versions of their lives, told in Rome and Terni respectively. 

Death records of the three St Valentines that died on February 14th

Love and St Valentine

You’d be forgiven for expecting St Valentine to be a bit more romantic - but the connections with love didn’t actually come from the martyrs themselves. There are two main theories as to how love began to be associated with February 14th. 

The first is the ancient Roman pagan festival of Lupercalia. Celebrated from the 13th-15th February, the festival celebrated good health, and was also associated with fertility. Although localised to Rome, the festival was popular even when the population became mainly Christian. It was abolished in 496 AD by Pope Gelasius, and the first Valentine’s Day celebration was brought in the same year, on February 14th. It was common at the time for Roman emperors and priests to replace pagan festivals with Christian ones, and the connections with love may come from that. 

The second theory suggests the association with love didn’t come until almost 1000 years later, in fourteenth century England. The poet Geoffery Chaucer wrote “Parliament of Fowls”, a poem describing birds choosing their mates on Valentine’s Day, in honour of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. 

It was also around this time that writing poems to a ‘Valentine’ began - with the first recorded instance of Valentine’s poetry coming from the Duke of Orleans to his wife, while he was held captive in the Tower of London. Other English writers began to popularise the holiday through their work - most notably, William Shakespeare, who referenced St Valentine’s Day in Hamlet.

Flowers, cards, and chocolate

Some of the most common things we associate with Valentine’s Day didn’t come until much later. The poem ‘Roses are red, violets are blue’ so often mentioned on Febraruy 14th, was published in a collection of children’s nursery rhymes in 1784. By this time Valentine’s poetry had been established, and in 1797, The Young Man’s Valentine Writer was published - a guidebook of love poetry for those unable to write their own. 

By the nineteenth century, cards were into fashion, and despite high postage fees, tens of thousands were sent every year. After the introduction of the stamp in 1840, cards became drastically more popular - the following year, 400,000 Valentine’s day cards were sent. 

In 1868 Cadbury created the ‘Fancy Box’ - a heart shaped box of chocolates - for Valentine’s Day. Other companies were quick to follow, and now, every year, shop shelves are lined with rows upon rows of chocolate boxes. 

One of the first heart-shaped boxes of chocolate

Today, almost half of the British population will spend money on Valentine’s day cards or gifts, with handwritten notes having been replaced by greeting cards, often with prewritten messages. 

It would have been impossible to predict that the martyrdom of a Catholic priest would lead to heart shaped boxes of chocolates being given in his honour. St Valentine’s Day has constantly evolved throughout history, and with the rise of the internet, new traditions will be created too.