The Story of St. Valentine Day............
In the early history of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods near-by and the Romans called on the god Lupercus to stop the wolves coming into the town. In honour of Lupercus the Romans declared a holiday on February 15th as part of their spring celebrations. (the early Roman calendar was different back then)
Now Valentine was a priest in the very early days of christianity in Rome. Emporer Claudius declared that his legionaires could not marry as he thought they would prefer to stay home with their families, if they were married, than go and fight his wars.
Valentine defied the emporer and married soldiers and their lovers in secret. He was eventually discovered and arrested. On the eve of the holiday of Lupercus he was beheaded.
As christianity grew in Rome, Valentine was declared a Saint and the spring holiday was moved to February 14th so the people could celebrate the memory of a Saint at spring instead the pagan god Lupercus.
Valentines Day Cards
As early as the middle ages handmade Valentine Cards were given. In the Brittish Museum the oldest Valentines card is dated as early 1400's. Then in the 1800's a factory began making Valentine cards for sale. The Valentines Day cards were black and white and hand painted by workers and were made of real ribbon and lace. By the end of the century the cards were being made by machine. |
