The history of Valentine's Day is a bit murky. In the late fifth century, it replaced a Roman fertility festival on the same date.
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes at least three saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One famous legend has it that Valentine was a Roman priest in the third century. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers, he outlawed marriage for young, unattached men. Valentine continued to perform marriages in secret. When his defiance was discovered, he was put to death.
According to another legend, a martyred Valentine might have sent the first valentine greeting. In that version, Valentine fell in love while in prison with a girl who visited him. Before his death, he sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine," an expression that has been carried down through the ages.
By the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in Europe. Lovers were exchanging homemade cards as early as the 15th century, copying verses from books of valentine poems.
Valentine customs:
During the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentine would be. They would wear the name on their sleeve for one week, perhaps the origin of the expression "wearing your heart on your sleeve."
0 Comments