A Brief Look at the History of Valentine's Day

There were three martyred men with the last name of Valentine in Rome around the time of AD 469.  One was known as Saint Valentine and became the Roman patron Saint of engaged couples, beekkeepers, happy marriages, love, lovers, young couples, and travelers.  Historians are not certain which Valentine is commemorated on February 14th.  There was a Roman feast in AD 496 which was the first proclaimed Feast of Saint Valentine, and eventually it began to be associated with love and lovers.   The name Valentine is derived from the word "valens" and means "worthy."   Some say the first recorded association of Valentine's Day with love and romance is in "Parlemement of Foules" by Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote: "For this was on Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh here to choose his mate."  There are three other poets who wrote poems in medieval times about birds mating relative to Saint Valentine's Day. In the English Renaissance, Ophelia, in Hamlet, is quoted as saying: "To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, all in the morning betime, and I a maid at your window to be your valentine...." A more modern verse of a familiar Valentine's Day poem can be found in a collection of English nursery rhymes in 1784: "The rose is red, the violet's blue, the honey's sweet, and so are you.  Thou art my love and I am thine;  I drew thee to my Valentine.  The lot was cast and then I drew, And Fortune said it shou'd be you."  In the twenty-first century a philosopher and writer by the name of Alan Watts, probably says it best:  "Falling in love with yourself is the ultimate valentine."   In the second half of the 20th century, handwritten notes and embossed paper and lace handmade valentines gave way to mass produced greeting cards and the practice of exchanging cards was extended in the U.S. to gifts typically including roses and chocolates in red satin, heart-shaped boxes.  In the 1980's the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.  The rise of the Internet at the turn of the millennium created new traditions.  Millions of people now use digital means of creating and sending valentine's greeting messages such as e-cards, coupons or printable greeting cards.