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Valentine’s
Party likes it’s 297 A.D.: The day's history isn’t as
romantic as one might guess, but has its racy side
By Yael Menahem
Oregon Daily Emerald
“Would you be my Valentine?”
Where does that phrase come
from?
The story behind St. Valentine,
for whom the day is named, is not
as romantic as many would imag
ine the holiday’s history to be.
St. Valentine was a priest dur
ing the third century in Rome,
when it was ruled by Emperor
Claudius 13. Claudius, who want
ed to keep his men focused on
their fighting, outlawed marriage
for single men who were poten
tial soldiers. He believed that sin
gle men would make better sol
diers than those with a wife or a
family.
Our hero Valentine felt that
Claudius’ rule was unjust, and he
continued to marry young cou
ples in secret. When Claudius dis
covered that Valentine broke the
law, the emperor ordered that the
priest be put to death.
Not romantic enough yet? Well
here comes a bit of romance.
One legend has it that while sit
ting in prison awaiting his execu
tion, Valentine fell in love with
the jailer’s daughter. Speculation
is that she visited him in jail, and
before he died, he wrote her a
love letter that was signed, “From
Your Valentine.”
That pretty much sealed the 1
deal. '<
Beyond that tale, a heroic act <
believed to have been performed
by Valentine was him saving 1
many Catholics from execution
under Claudius’ rule. The |
Catholic Church named Valentine
a saint after his death in 297 A.D.
The month of February was
chosen to celebrate this modern
day love feast because of Luper
calia, a Roman fertility festival. In
the spirit of modem Valentine’s
Day, young boys would pull
names of girls out of a box, and
they would escort them to the pre
spring festivities, says Daniel Woj
cik, associate professor of English.
Lupercalia signified the “re
newal of the forces of nature,”
Wojcik says. It “assured the
growth of crops and the fertility of
women.”
Yet, there was a gap between
the time of St. Valentine’s death
and the resurgence of Valentine’s
Day in the 19th century. Valen
tine’s reputation as a sympathet
ic, heroic and romantic figure ap
pealed to many people around
Europe in the early 1800s.
By the mid-1800s, it was com
mon for friends and lovers to ex
change small tokens of affections
or handwritten notes. By the end
of the 19th century, printed cards
jegan to replace written letters as
i result of better printing technol
ogy
Cheaper postal rates also con
ributed to an increase in the pop
ilarity of sending Valentine’s Day
greetings. It’s believed that Amer
cans started exchanging hand
nade valentine cards in the early
L700s.
“It was as big as Christmas,”
i/Vojcik says.
Some people love Valentine’s
Day, some hate it, but most people
Duy into its commercial appeal,
roday, the Greeting Card Associ
ation estimates that around 1 bil
lion love-oriented cards are sent
worldwide each year.
“It’s the best day of the year for
[selling] flowers and chocolate,
but it’s still meaningful for peo
ple,” Wojcik explains. “People
aren’t going to be brainwashed hy
market forces. This is a way for
people who don’t always have
the opportunity to express emo
tions to do it.”
So that’s the story of Valentine’s
Day.
The once-racy Lupercalia cele
brations that were known for “re
newal, rebirth, erotic and sexual
themes,” as Wojcik describes the
festival, have turned into a day to
tell family, friends and especially
partners that you care.
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