The Valentine’s Special: 10 Fantastic Facts
Ever wondered about the origins of Valentine’s Day? For the studious readers out there, you are in for a treat with this list of fantastic facts about the Lovers’ day. For the horror-loving geek out there contemplating ideas for the special day of St Valentine’s, you will be happy to know that in fact the origins of this lovely day is deep-rooted in blood, gore, decapitation and pagan ritual. Read on and you will soon realise that the day celebrated by lovers across the globe was not all about fun and roses!
1. The Legend of St Valentine
According to History.com legend has it that though it is not clear who St Valentine actually is there are three martyrs in history officially recognised by the catholic church and thought to be the possible patron saint of lovers. According to hagiographical sources, one was a priest, the other was a bishop and the third was a saint.
One legend contends that a Priest during the third century named Valentinus serving during the reign of Emperor Claudius II defied the Emperor who ruled that marriage be outlawed for single men. During the Roman Empire young men were believed to make excellent soldiers and therefore were much better suited for this purpose than being married. However, Valentinus saw this ruling as cruel and secretly performed marriages between young lovers. Defying his Emperor, he was sentenced to death.
The second martyr was a Bishop of Terni (known as Interamna during the Roman times) who was able to perform miracles. In the Roman courts, Judge Asterius tested Valentinus by asking him to restore the sight of his adopted daughter. And he succeeded. Though he was released he was later jailed again for continuing his efforts in converting people to Christianity. In his attempt to convert Emperor Claudius II, clearly, the Emperor became infuriated by the prospect and commanded the Bishop to renounce his faith or be sentenced to death by means of beheading. Of course, Valentinus refused and was executed outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14th 269AD. This legend was further ‘embellished’ with the theory that Valentinus wrote a letter to Judge Asterius’ daughter signing off with ‘from your Valentine’ which to this day is used in card writing between lovers!
Finally, the third martyr was believed to be a Saint of whom not much is known other than the fact that he suffered on the same day with a number of companions in the Roman Province of Africa.
2. Pagan Origins of Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is believed to have originated from the Pagan rituals of Lupercalia which took the name after the cave of the she-wolf called Lupercal in the Legend of Romulus and Remus and the fertility God Lupercus. History.com eloquently describes Lupercalia as ‘a bloody, violent and sexually-charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility.’
The rituals took place in the Lupercal Cave and were performed by the Luperci, a group of Roman priests. Goats were sacrificed and then a feast took place, after which the Luperci ran naked around the city holding pieces of goat hide which were used to lash women in the belief that this promoted fertility. During the rituals a jar was filled with women’s names and men would pick a name from the jar to be coupled with them during the festival. These couples often remained together for the rest of the year and many fell in love and married.
At the end of the 5th Century, Pope Gelasius deemed the rituals ‘Un-Christian’ and declared the 14th of February St Valentine’s Day instead.
3. The Romantic Origins of Valentine’s Day
It was not until the 14th century that Valentine’s day was celebrated by France and England in association with the beginning of the birds mating season. The first ever account of the romantic celebrations stemmed from the poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer in his poem ‘Parliament of Foules’ around 1375. In his work, he speaks of courting and feasting on the day of St Valentine’s referring to the 14th of February as the mating day for birds and humans alike. He wrote, ‘“For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh there to choose his mate”.
4. The First Love Letter Written in History
A poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415 is the oldest recorded valentine in history which he had written during his imprisonment in the Tower of London for his wife after he had been captured in the battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.
A special mention here would be that the poem is part of the manuscript collection at the British Library.
5. The First Valentine’s Card in History
Though the exchange of handmade cards is believed to have begun in the 1700s, in 1840 Esther A. Howland was the first to sell mass-produced cards in the US adorned with elaborate art and was dubbed ‘Mother of the Valentine’.
6. The Origins of Gifting Valentine’s Flowers
It is believed that the tradition of giving flowers on Valentine’s day originated in the 17th century, traced back to King Charles the II of Sweden who on his trip to Persia learned “the language of flowers” and paired flowers with different meanings. He introduced the tradition of giving flowers to Europe and red roses were known to have symbolised ‘love’.
7. The First Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates
You only need to visit to appreciate the long history behind the famous chocolate brand in the History of the UK, Cadbury. Richard Cadbury, one of the sons of founder John Cadbury in the 1800s came up with the idea to create boxes of chocolates in order to increase sales. In 1861 he introduced heart-shaped boxes for the celebrations of Valentine’s Day.
The most popular Valentine’s Day gift to give is a heart-shaped box of chocolates, followed by a romantic meal out and flowers. So, if you do all three you have aced it for Valentine’s Day!
8. The First Valentine Sweets
Conversation Hearts were the brain-child of Daniel Chase who created the idea for printing love messages on candy when his brother Oliver had invented the first candy-making machine during the US industrial revolution. In 1866, he figured out a way to print words on candy with vegetable dye during the cutting process.
Later in the UK ‘, Love Hearts’ sweets were invented by David Dee first produced in 1954 by the confectionery manufacturing company, Swizzel Matlow Ltd.
9. Valentine’s Day Around the World
Contrary to popular belief, Valentine’s Day is actually celebrated differently around the world. According to the Travel Magazine, for example, interestingly the most romantic seems to be the South Korean’s who celebrate love on the 14th of every month! ‘These days include Rose Day in May, Kiss Day in June, Hug Day in December, and Black Day in April when single people console themselves by congregating over Jajangmyeon (black noodles).
In Japan, it is tradition that women gift chocolates to men and the quality of the chocolate symbolizes how much they love their man. On the 14th of March, a month later, men reciprocate their love on a day known as ‘White Day’.
In Brazil, Dia dos Namorados – the day of lovers - is celebrated on the 12th of June instead and the 13th of June is St Anthony’s day who is the patron saint of marriage. And in Argentina from the 1st of July to the 7th, lovers celebrate a whole week called ‘Sweetness Week’ where kisses are exchanged for sweet treats!
10. The Traditions of Writing Love Letters to Juliet
As a die-hard storyteller and an undying lover of the written word, I left the last little lovely fact about Valentine’s day last.
The most romantic and tragic love story in the world written by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet inspired a global tradition – writing ‘letters for Juliet’. Every year thousands of people write to Juliet, the main female character of Shakespeare’s story speaking of love and heartbreak. Letters are sent to an address in the city of Verona, Italy, the place which inspired ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Though, the tradition dates back hundreds of years from the 1990s Verona was receiving such a large amount of letters they had to create an office specialising in dealing with the influx of letters: the Juliet Club was born. An office staffed by an army of volunteers called ‘secretaries’ reading and responding to every letter, handwritten, one at a time.
This office is said to receive over 6000 letters a year and the secretaries take their job extremely seriously, while it has made the city famed for the lovers’ tale of Romeo and Juliet. NPR.org cites one experience from a secretary saying ‘When there's a difficult letter, we talk to each other to see which is the best answer to give,’ – it’s good to know letters are carefully considered before responses are written in the kindest of terms.
Valentine’s Day is a time for expressing your love in your own way – and my favourite world is ‘Geekdom’. So, I have compiled a list of my favourite geeky gifts to inspire you (and my husband! Hint hint).
Written by Maria Nicolette
Hello! I’m Maria Nicolette, a writer and contributor to The Everyday Magazine.
I’m an ambitious disabled woman and fan of all things Geekdom. I write about my passions in an authentic voice and absolutely abhor toxic positivity, while I drown myself in fantasy and sci-fi imagination through books and story-writing. My topics of interest are:
• Diversity: disability and female empowerment,
• Wellbeing: mental health, gardening, hobbies
• Art and culture: across the board!
• Luxury lifestyle: fashion, travel, beauty
• Entertainment: movies, music, gaming.
• And my favourite: Geekdom!
I volunteer as a Creative Content Writer, offering my copywriting, editing, public engagement, social media, communications and PR skills. I have volunteered my time for charities including The Children’s Trust, Ignite Hubs, and Enhance the UK.
My love for art and culture has led me to spend my time on interesting projects like Sci-Fi London as I am insane about film and have worked as an extra in Mission Impossible 5. I also work with Talks by Megan an influencer on invisible disabilities who is a bright and beautiful disabilities and diversity advocate. No one day is the same, and every day is interesting – which is how I love life!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianicolette/ https://www.instagram.com/marianicolette_
