Each year, we give and receive cards on Valentine\u2019s Day, and see the heart-shaped boxes of candy in stores, but where did these traditions come from? Who was Saint Valentine and why do we devote a day to him?<\/p>\n
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The history is a little murky, with myths and legends overwhelming facts, and several tales mixing together. One of the most popular, and historically plausible, stories takes place in ancient Rome, under the rule of Emperor Claudius II in the third century.<\/p>\n
The Roman Empire, which, in 270 A.D., was nearing the end of its domination as a world power, had to maintain a massive army to defend its borders. Claudius decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives or families, so he outlawed marriage for young men.<\/p>\n
Valentine was a Catholic priest who considered the ban on marriage to be unjust, and he secretly performed marriages for any young couples who requested it. When Claudius discovered Valentine breaking the law, he had him arrested and sent to prison.<\/p>\n
The Catholic Church made Valentine a saint for his sacrifice, and chose February 14, the date of his death, as the day on which he would be honored. Centuries later, in medieval England and France, people believed that February 14 was the day that many birds, returning for the spring, picked their mates.<\/p>\n
English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, first put the link between St. Valentine\u2019s Day and romance in writing, with a poem composed in the late 1300s. The fanciful poem has birds discussing everything from politics to love, and ends in praise of Saint Valentine, relating Valentine\u2019s Day to the date the birds would choose their mates, and to the coming of warmer weather. To paraphrase:<\/p>\n