A Little Valentine’s Day History

Valentine’s Day is celebrated each year on February 14th and it has become a tradition for couples and prospective couples to tell each other just how much they care. The holiday itself has been overly commercialised however and it is now big business to the gifts and greetings card industry with very few people understanding the history and true meaning for celebrating the day.





The most popular and firmly believed story of how Valentine’s Day came about dates back to the 2nd century A.D. when Christian marriages and other ceremonies had been outlawed by Claudius II who was trying to raise his vision of a perfect army in Rome. Claudius II held the belief that married men would be no good for his army as they would be constantly distracted by the thoughts of their wife and children back home. In order to build the perfect army in his vision he forbid young men to marry, with the penalty for any priest found conducting a marriage ceremony being death.





During this time St Valentine, who placed his allegiance to god before the Roman state, believed so strongly in love and marriage that he carried out marriage ceremonies in secret. His actions quickly caught up with him however when he was caught in the act of performing a marriage ceremony and after a swift trial before the emperor, was beheaded.





With this story being somewhat brutal, a second legend materialised over time surrounding St Valentine. This version says that whilst in prison awaiting his trial before Claudius II he met the blind daughter of the jailor. Whilst awaiting his execution he touched the girl’s eyes and gave her the gift of sight. St Valentine wrote her a farewell note signed "From Your Valentine" which she could read thanks to the miracle her performed.





Here we have two versions of the same story, one that will appeal to adults and one that is more appealing to children. This is symbolic of how we celebrate Valentine’s Day today. Children see Valentine’s Day as an occasion to trade gifts and cards, like the note that was given to the jailors daughter. Adults see the story as the ultimate sacrifice of love and the occasion one to be taken seriously.





The giving of gifts and trinkets for Valentine’s Day really took off in the mid 1600s with flowers and jewellery being the traditions of the times. The giving of a pair of gloves to a girl at Valentine’s Day was thought to be a proposal of marriage, the ultimate gifts for her.





As education improved and the ability to read became more widespread the passing of love notes became the tradition representing St Valentines note given to the daughter of the jailor. In the 1700s card makers in Britain saw an opportunity and started to produce Valentine’s Day cards and the close links between Britain and USA, Australia and Canada meant that by the early 1800s the giving of gifts and card had become a worldwide tradition.





A great selection of Valentine’s Day gifts and great gifts for her are available from GiftsGuideUK.com