History of Valentine's Day

Contrary to popular belief Valentine's Day wasn't created by Hallmark although I'm sure they reap the most benefits.

There are a bunch of stories about how Valentine's Day got started. Rather than go through them all I've picked what seems to be the most popular explanation and what better source to use than the History Channel...

One legend contends that 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 — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival.

In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. According to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D.

A few Valentine's Day factoids...

• Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s.
• In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.
• According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion Valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
• Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women.
• In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
• The ‘remains’ of St Valentine were given to an Irish Priest in 1835 after he impressed the Pope with his preaching. The black and gold casket can still be viewed every Valentine’s Day at the Whitefriar St Church in Dublin.