The history of Valentine’s Day is a story born from Roman mythology, early Christianity and a tragic killing from thousands of years prior.
“I love Valentine’s Day because I love my friend and my boyfriend,” senior Mackenzie Volm said.
Volm is not alone in her fondness of the holiday most recognize as a day to celebrate love. Valentine’s Day is a holiday loved by many across the world. The day is surrounded by love and celebrated by couples and loved ones alike, but behind the gifts of rose bouquets and boxes filled with chocolate, there is a complex, layered and even questionable history of Feb. 14.
It all begins with Lupercalia. Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated on Feb. 15. As told by Roman legend, two twins, Romulus and Remus, founded the city of Rome after surviving a murder attempt by their own uncle by being rescued and cared for by a she-wolf. Historians believe that Lupercalia took place to honor the she-wolf and Lupercus, the Roman god of fertility.
As years passed, Lupercalia and its rituals lost popularity, and as Christianity spread, the church made efforts to replace pagan celebrations with Christian holidays. In the late 5th century, Pope Gelasius I eliminated Lupercalia and replaced it with a celebration held on the 14th to honor Saint Valentine.
The most common story of Saint Valentine centers around a priest named Valentine who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II in the third century. According to one legend, Claudius banned marriages for soldiers. Valentine, however, defied this decree and secretly performed marriage ceremonies for couples in love.
When Claudius discovered this, he had Valentine arrested and sentenced to death. While imprisoned, Valentine is said to have befriended his jailer’s blind daughter, but he was later executed on Feb. 14, 269 AD. He is said to have written a letter to the girl, signing it “From your Valentine,” a phrase that is still used today.