What was valentines day named after

Love is in the air as the much-awaited Valentine's Day will be celebrated by couples of all ages on February While this day is now known for gifts, fancy dinner dates, and an overall celebration of love, the origins of Valentine's Day are far less romantic.

This day contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions, but the history of this day and the story of its patron saint are both shrouded in mystery. There are many stories about Saint Valentine and over time these stories evolved into the legend that we know of today.

Back in the day, the Romans used to celebrate the feast of Lupercalia from February 13 to February 15, in which men sacrificed a dog and a goat. After this, the hides of the slain animals were used by men to whip women.

In fact, young women even lined up to be whipped by men due to their belief that this made them more fertile. During the celebrations, a matchmaking lottery was also held and men picked out names of women from a box and proceeded to profess their love to these women during the festival.

This sometimes also culminated in a marriage. However, Lupercalia was replaced by St Valentine's Day by the end of the 5th century by Pope Gelasius, and this was part of the reason that led to Valentine's Day being associated with romance as well as the beginning of love. Valentine's Day has been named after Saint Valentine, a priest who was believed to have secretly helped Christian couples get married. This was a move against the Roman Emperor Claudius II because the emperor did not allow men to get married.

Saint Valentine was of the view that single men were better and more dedicated soldiers. Saint Valentine did not agree with this ideology and facilitated the weddings of couples in love. Due to this, he was beheaded by the Emperor. St Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love.

Eventually, Valentine was found out and jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor's blind daughter. Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year It wasn't until more than years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine's Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism.

A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine's Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints. This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret. This custom spread throughout Europe and stories grew about a High Court of Love where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year.

Occurring for centuries in the middle of February, the holiday celebrates fertility. Men would strip naked and sacrifice a goat and dog. Young boys would then take strips of hide from the sacrificed animals and use it to whip young women, to promote fertility.

Lupercalia was popular and one of the few pagan holidays still celebrated years after Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire. When Pope Gelasius came to power in the late fifth century he put an end to Lupercalia.

Soon after, the Catholic church declared February 14 to be a day of feasts to celebrate the martyred Saint Valentine. According to Noel Lenski , a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Lupercalia was "clearly a very popular thing, even in an environment where the Christians are trying to close it down.

Jack B. By some estimations there are over 10, saints , of which there are more than 30 Valentines and even a few Valentinas. Two Valentines stand out as likely candidates for the namesake saint, but neither dealt with matters of the heart. The two Valentines share many similarities, leading some researchers to wonder whether they were the same man. Both Valentines were martyrs, put to death by the Roman Emperor Claudius in the third century.

Both men were also said to have died on February 14, although years apart. The first Valentine was a priest who was arrested during the Roman persecutions of Christians. When brought before the emperor, Valentine refused to renounce his faith and as punishment was placed under house arrest. Another story involves the practice of writing love letters to your Valentine.

It's said that St. Others believe that St. Valentine's Day was actually designated by Pope Gelasius I in order to replace the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunas, and Roman founders Romulus and Remus. The feast of debauchery fell around the same time and involved a ritual where an order of Roman priests ran naked through the streets, "gently slapping" women with the blood-soaked hides of sacrificed animals yes, really , which they believed promoted fertility.

Following this flagellation was a tradition in which men selected women's names at random from a jar to decide who would remain together for the next year, or, if they fell in love, they'd marry. Oruch , had a different theory, notes the Times : Through research, he determined that the poet Geoffrey Chaucer linked love with St.

At the time of Chaucer's writing, February 14 also happened to be considered the first day of spring in Britain, because it was the beginning of birds' mating season—perfectly appropriate for a celebration of affection.

Whether or not Chaucer can be fully credited, it is true that he and fellow writer Shakespeare popularized the amorous associations surrounding the day. Soon, people began penning and exchanging love letters to celebrate Valentine's Day, and by the early s, an American company that would one day become Hallmark began distributing its more official "Valentine's Day cards. It's not all about St. Cupid—that winged baby boy often seen on Valentine's Day cards and paraphernalia—is another symbol of this love-filled holiday, and it's easy to understand why.

In Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, goddess of love and beauty.