Valentine’s Day
Officially the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on 14th February by lovers and would-be lovers all over the world in a frenzied orgy of cards, love tokens, gifts of chocolate, flowers and champagne or – in these less starry-eyed days – e-cards, computer print-outs and internet love coupons!
Woe betide any Romeo who actually forgets Valentine’s Day – and be warned guys, a bouquet of straggly flowers hastily grabbed from a garage forecourt will not be sufficient compensation (although diamonds will do nicely)!
A History of Valentine’s Day
The origins of Valentine’s Day are probably not based in romance at all but in Christian, Roman and Pagan traditions.
The most romantic legend by far is that relating to the death of Valentine of Rome in AD 269: a priest who continued to marry young couples in secret, after the emperor Claudius ll banned marriage for single men; whilst he awaited his beheading in prison, Valentine miraculously healed the jailer’s blind daughter with whom he subsequently fell in love, and sent her a letter as he went to his death signed with the immortal words: “From your Valentine.”
Another legend regarding the origin of Valentine’s Day is linked to the Queen of Roman Gods: Juno, said to rule the affairs of women and marriage. This goddess was traditionally honoured on February 14th followed by the feast of Lupercalia that marked the official beginning of spring, and involved a fertility rite whereby young men pursued young women all over the city with the aim of slapping them with strips of goats’ hide dipped in sacrificial blood, believed to bring fertility.
This Pagan festival was subsequently usurped by the Christian church and turned into Valentine’s feast day.
But the earliest surviving Valentine dates from 1415, displayed in the manuscript collection at the British Library; it was written from the Tower of London by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife, after his capture at the Battle of Agincourt, and reads: “Je suis desja d’amour tanne, Ma tres doulce Valentinee…”
Valentine’s Day: All In The Cards
In 1797 The Young Man’s Valentine Writer was published in Britain, containing suggested poetry for inarticulate young lovers, and the unromantically named ‘Mechanical Valentines’ – complete with sketches and verses – became commonplace.
The success of these publications was facilitated by a reduction in postal rates that enabled people to send anonymously… later, the Victorians used the Valentines to express slightly saucy sentiments.
The first mass produced Valentines in the US were created by Esther Howland in 1847, but it wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century that gifts began to be sent along with the cards.
Historically, it’s the second largest card sending event of the year behind Christmas, and on the allotted day a total of one billion tenderly inscribed billet-doux will burst through letterboxes all over the UK: although 85 per cent of them are sent by women, on average, men spend twice as much on cards as their female counterparts.
Nowadays a candle-lit meal for two is an increasingly popular option: but be warned though, you would do well to book in advance for Valentine’s Day, as it is one of the most popular days of the year for mass dining out.
Hopefully you won’t be slapped with a strip of goat’s hide!