Every February 14th, the world goes into a frenzy of red hearts, blooming roses, and rich chocolates. It’s a day all about love and adoration, complete with thoughtful gifts and sappy messages. But where did it begin? Under dinner reservations and greeting cards lies a history as intricate and complex as any great affair. Let’s go back in time and learn about the saints, poets, and unexpected turns that have shaped Valentine’s Day into what we know today. Here are the first seven finds.
1. A Martyr’s Legacy
Valentine’s Day came to us far from its present-day romantic roots, rather in early Christian traditions.
February 14th is when we celebrate a Christian feast day of a martyr called Valentine, dating back as early as the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary. There are a series of legends about multiple Saint Valentines who share this day. Saint Valentine of Rome, a priest martyr of 269 AD, was buried on the Via Flaminia, for example. Another, Valentine of Terni, became a bishop and martyred in 273 AD. These types of tales of sacrifice and devotion formed a sanctimonious foundation for a day that was later connected with love.
2. A Miracle of Compassion
There is a legend which is powerful and moving about the charity of Saint Valentine as he was in prison during the Roman Empire.
According to the legend, he restored eyesight to Julia, the daughter of the jailer, Asterius, who had been born blind. For this act of charity, Julia, Asterius, and forty six members of their household became Christian converts and were baptized. This myth brings divine intervention and personal affinity into Valentine’s legacy, attributing significance to his association with love.
3. Defying a Ban on Love
Picture a day when love was outlawed for Roman soldiers. One legend states Saint Valentine illicitly married Christian soldiers in clandestine ceremonies, defying Emperor Claudius II, who believed wives made bad soldiers out of men. Even though there are scholars who argue that marriage was outlawed, the legend presents Valentine as a love hero, uniting couples against imperial fiat. His quiet disobedience is an enduring symbol of love.
4. The First “Your Valentine”
The phrase “Your Valentine” may trace its origins in a bittersweet custom. Before he became a martyr, Saint Valentine allegedly penned a message to Julia, the jailer’s daughter whose eyesight he restored, with the signature “Your Valentine.” Legendary or not, this 18th century anecdote gave way to an all-encompassing expression of love that now tugs at the heartstrings of millions of Valentine’s cards and love letters worldwide.
5. Hearts as Symbols of Love
Hearts are everywhere during Valentine’s Day, but who knows whether their origins could be linked to Saint Valentine. Legend has him cutting out heart-shaped pieces of parchment to give to soldiers and persecuted Christians, symbolizing their vows and the love of God. These symbols are said to have spawned the heart as a universal symbol of love, elevating it from being a simple shape to a precious tradition.
6. Chaucer’s Romantic Spark
The romantic connection of Valentine’s Day was solidified in Geoffrey Chaucer’s 1382 poem, Parliament of Fowls. It describes how birds choose mates on “seynt Valentynes day,” the first known connection of the holiday and courtly love. Chaucer’s “For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day / When every fowl comes there to choose his match” changed the identity of the day, and it became romanticized.
7. A Medieval Court of Love
In 1400, it is claimed that French king Charles VI issued the “Charter of the Court of Love” in Mantes la Jolie, describing a party court where women resolved lovers’ arguments amidst poetry, song, and dance. Historians argue its authenticity there were numerous guests absent the utopian scenario, maybe conjured up by Queen Isabeau in a plague, adds to the fairy tale nature of Valentine’s Day’s early history.
The history of Valentine’s Day doesn’t end with medieval courts and ancient saints. It moves into a contemporary phenomenon influenced by commerce, iconic customs, and global diversity. Let’s continue to the next seven chapters of this intriguing story.
8. Early Love Letters
By the 15th century, written valentines were love messages of a personal kind. Charles, Duke of Orléans, wrote a sad rondeau to his wife from the Tower of London in 1415, calling her “Ma tres doulce Valentinée.” In 1477, the Paston Letters included Margery Brews calling John Paston “my right well beloved Valentine.” These initial communications laid the groundwork for the holiday card tradition popular today.
9. Shakespeare and Donne’s Poetic Touch
Literary giants like William Shakespeare and John Donne further solidified Valentine’s Day’s link to romance. In Hamlet (1600–1601), Ophelia sings of being a “maid at your window, To be your Valentine,” associating the day with romance. John Donne’s 1595 epithalamion is one that celebrates birds marrying on Valentine’s Day, and the “Roses are red” poem, rooted in Edmund Spenser’s 1590 The Faerie Queene, was a part of holiday tradition by 1784.
10. The Rise of Valentine Cards
The 19th and 18th centuries saw Valentine’s Day as a commercial behemoth.
In 1797, The Young Man’s Valentine Writer offered pre written poetry to lovers who had poor poetic skills. England’s paper valentines were mass produced using paper lace in the early 19th century. The invention of the postage stamp in 1840 reduced the cost of mailing, propelling card exchange to 400,000 per year by 1841. Esther Howland led the way in mass produced embossed valentines in the US after 1847, making love a business.
11. Chocolates and Gifts Galore
Valentine’s Day gifts expanded past cards, headed by chocolate. Cadbury’s introduction in 1868 of heart-shaped “Fancy Boxes” of chocolates cemented their holiday status. The 20th century added jewellery, roses, and more, with the US Greeting Card Association estimating 190 million valentines sent per year, generating billions of economic activity.
12. A Worldwide Celebration
Valentine’s Day extended around the globe, specifically in East Asia, where Singapore, China, and South Korea observe lavish gift-giving. China celebrates its Qixi Festival on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is an East Asian version of Valentine’s Day with the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Maid stars. This blending of local and Western celebration illustrates how cultures adapt the holiday, embracing original practices such as White Day.
13. Latin America’s own twist
Valentine’s Day in Latin America, or DÃa de los Enamorados or DÃa del Amor y la Amistad, celebrates romantic as well as friendship associations. Guatemala also has its own DÃa del Cariño and Amigo Secreto game being played in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador add local touch. Brazil celebrates Dia dos Namorados on June 12th and Colombia on the third Saturday in September, aligning celebrations with culture calendars.
14. Cultural Debates
Not everyone greets Valentine’s Day. Some regard it as inimical to Islamic and cultural mores, especially since it overshadows a historic anti authoritarian holiday in Bangladesh. Traditionalists in India have referred to it as “cultural contamination” ever since its emergence in 1992, which has encouraged such alternatives as the brief lived 2023 “Cow Hug Day.” These rows explain the way a celebration of love can generate complex cultural debates.
Valentine’s Day is not just a date it’s a vibrant history of love, tradition, and global harmony. From sacrificial saints to heart-shaped sweets and cultural uproar, it reflects human nature’s endless drive to express affection. The next time you see a tsunami of pink and red, remember this amazing journey.
