Astonishing Valentine’s Day Info From Across the World

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Valentine’s Day is a widely known day of affection usually celebrated by exchanging playing cards, goodies, and crimson roses with family members. However have you learnt the origins of Valentine’s Day, who it commemorated, and the way our Valentine’s Day traditions got here to be? 

Few holidays have evolutions as advanced as Valentine’s Day. What we all know as a greeting card vacation has fairly the storied previous: first as a Roman vacation with merciless practices, then as a Catholic feast day with purer intentions, and at last, in the present day’s amalgam of traditions celebrating love of all types. Uncover some shocking Valentine’s Day information.  

Why is Valentine’s Day celebrated on 14 February?

Valentine’s Day is well known on 14 February to commemorate the day of the execution of the martyr for whom the day is known as, Valentine.

Who was St. Valentine?

St. Valentine, the patron saint of affection and engaged {couples}, has some fuzzy origins. It seems that two males of this title had been executed by the Roman empire within the third century on 14 February in several years (earlier than the empire transformed to Christianity within the early fourth century). There’s even a 3rd martyr named Valentine from that point. 

The precise id of St. Valentine, the person who was martyred and celebrated on the feast day of 14 February, is unsure. Nonetheless, the Catholic church celebrates a single saint, St. Valentine of Rome, on February 14, and the Japanese Orthodox church celebrates his feast on July 6.

How did Valentine’s Day begin? 

Valentine’s Day, also referred to as St. Valentine’s Day or Feast of Saint Valentine, started within the fifth century because the Christian feast day commemorating a holy man named Valentine and his sacrifice. 

Some have urged that Pope Gelasius I created the vacation as a method to exchange the pagan pageant of fertility and purification, Lupercalia. 

The connection between Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia

The early Christian church usually aligned its holy days with the dates of pagan celebrations in an effort to transform non-believers. Which means the “saintly” facet of Valentine’s Day wasn’t a part of the unique celebration of Lupercalia. 

Earlier than Christianity took over Rome, the Roman celebration of Valentine’s Day was known as Lupercalia, held on February 13-15 yearly. This pageant, which to our trendy mind-set appears unnecessarily merciless, began off with animal sacrifices adopted by the whipping of younger girls, who had been regarded as made fertile by these acts. Later, a sort of lottery was held during which women and men had been paired up for the three days of the pageant, although that pairing generally prolonged past. 

When did Valentine’s Day rework to a day of romance?

Even after the Catholic church instituted the feast of St. Valentine in A.D. 496, the day nonetheless served as a boozy celebration of fertility.  It took centuries for the vacation to remodel into one thing tamer and extra romantic, a step that each Chaucer and Shakespeare influenced. 

Within the late medieval interval, Chaucer linked the date to the time of chook mating, whereas Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” written later within the Renaissance interval, options Ophelia calling herself Hamlet’s valentine.

St. Valentine is related to the medieval courtly love custom, which flourished throughout the twelfth to 14th centuries and included chivalrous knights who fought for his or her girls. This custom, full of affection poetry and track, was the start of what we now know as romantic love. A few of these poems and songs had been written by girls too!

Playing cards and Cupid: Enduring symbols of Valentine’s Day 

Within the 14th century, sweethearts started writing love letters for February 14, and shortly, Valentine’s Day photos had been printed with artisanal printing strategies. As symbols of affection, hearts and winged angels with arrows usually appeared on these early playing cards. 

These winged angels originated with Cupid, the traditional Roman god of affection and need, and his Greek counterpart Eros, the Greek god of affection and lust. The ancients later conceived of Eros’s attendants as quite a few chubby figures with wings referred to as putti. These cute figures are nonetheless featured on playing cards in the present day, however they betray the true nature of Cupid. 

Cupid’s violent backstory

Cupid’s bow and arrow aren’t simply cute—they’re fairly violent. Historic mythology tells of Apollo having slain the dragon of Delphi. Cupid responded to this act by capturing an arrow into Apollo’s coronary heart, making Apollo fall in love with Daphne, dedicated to remaining a virgin. So Cupid shot her too. As Apollo started to pursue Daphne, her father turned her right into a laurel tree, later used as an emblem of victory.

Violence apart, these historic mythological tales had been revisited throughout the Renaissance, and printed photos referred to as emblems usually depicted Cupid or putti in pastoral settings. Quick phrases related to love usually accompanied them, additional establishing the connection between love and winged males with arrows. 

Valentine’s Day playing cards within the US

After Europeans colonized and settled within the space we now name the US, they introduced these traditions with them.

By 1800, Valentine’s Day playing cards had been commercially produced within the US, thanks partly to Esther Howland. They continued to be adorned with those self same flowers, birds, hearts, and arrows, together with lace and different frills.

Discover the world with Rosetta Stone

Who knew a day devoted to like may have such a protracted and sophisticated historical past? Like all vacation, the up to date celebration and understanding of Valentine’s Day is that it’s what you make of it. Have a good time together with your associate or plan an elaborate dinner with all your mates. Love is significant in each type, and Valentine’s Day is an excellent alternative to say “I really like you” in several languages. 

Studying a brand new language will help you get even nearer with the folks you’re keen on, so honor the day with Rosetta Stone language studying (for your self or as a present) to make Valentine’s Day a complete new expertise!