It’s Valentine’s Day this Saturday and how many of you kiddies are actually contemplating the strife of St. Valentine, the martyr?
The name Valentine, or Valentinus as it was known in Roman times, is quite holy: Catholic history cites the existence of three different St. Valentines. All of them were martyrs, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, and are mentioned in the early martyrologies under the date of Feb. 14. A saint’s “day” corresponds to the date he or she died, since it was much more difficult to trace birthdates in early Christianity. Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 as the day when all three martyrs should be celebrated.
The first two men we now know as St. Valentine suffered during the third century A.D. One was a priest in Rome, the other was a bishop in Interamna, which is now called Terni. Both were buried on the Flaminian Way, named for Flaminian Gate of Rome (now called Porta del Popolo), but back in the day, it was called the Gate of St. Valentine after a nearby church which bore the same name. The third saint of love and chocolate “suffered in Africa with a number of companions.” The Catholic Church confirms nothing else about the three saints.
Legends about these saints prove a bit more informative and interesting. One legend claims that when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men make better soldiers than those with families, so he outlawed marriage for young men in an effort to strengthen his army. One of the St. Valentines defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret. When the saint’s tender actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death, consecrating his martyr status.
Another story says one of the St. Valentines was killed for trying to help early Christians escape Roman prisons, where Christians were known to be beaten and heavily tortured. The story also claims that Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting while in prison. He fell in love with a young lady – perhaps his jailer’s daughter, who paid him secret visits during his incarceration. Before his death, he wrote her a note that was signed, “From your Valentine,” originating the tradition we still use today.
Although these explanations certainly make fine tales, historians suggest that a more accurate explanation is that Valentine’s Day became a romantic endeavor in England and France during the Middle Ages, when people noticed that Feb. 14 was the day that pigeons began to pair. Even Chaucer has been quoted in “The Parliament of Foules” as stating that on “Seynt Valentyne’s Day” the “foul comes to choose his mate.” Lovers were inspired by our feathery friends and thus began the tradition of writing love letters and sending lovers tokens on the day of pigeon trysting. By the 14th and 15th century, this practice was well documented and several ballads refer to significant others as “my Valentine.”
Another practice that took place was when some medieval mothers, eager to marry off their daughters, chose it as a day to bring up marriage to their daughters’ gentleman callers. Their timing was ideal: Leap day – 15 days after Valentine’s Day – is the one date a year that a woman can traditionally ask a man to marry her.
Some early Christian pastors sought to keep the day religious: for men who didn’t want to choose a maiden, they could alternately choose a patron saint.
Fast-forwarding several centuries, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards in the United States. Following her example, commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800s, and the day has contributed to capitalism ever since.
Valentine’s Day has evolved into a time when certain unlucky kids in elementary school develop low self esteem, as the prettier children receive more paper valentines than they do. My earliest memories of Valentines Day were counting the number of cards I got and comparing them to my arch nemesis, Molly. As she was a flirtatious blonde – even at the age of eight – Molly always got one or two more than I did, and for that I hated her so very, very much. Even I was guilty of performing Valentine’s Day injustice: I remember giving the uglier kids the uglier valentines, and would carefully sign them “from” instead of “love” so that no misconceptions would ensue.
As my awkward years subsided, I learned that Valentine’s Day is a nice occasion to do nice things for my boyfriends and vice versa, and I looked at my collection of stuffed animals from Valentine’s Days past with the utmost pride. Getting older, I began to believe Valentine’s Day was created by the wine industry, which kindly allowed me to drown my romantic sorrows with luminous, red liquid and consequently drunkenly dial the ghosts of my Valentines past.
Nevertheless, compared to the actual history of the day, it is better to celebrate someone you love than archaic men who died painful deaths. In college, we know it is really about the good North End dinner for the girls, good sex for the boys and candy hearts for those of us who are single. Damn those candy hearts are good.
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