What is the origin of Valentine's Day?
Whether you like it or not, Valentine's Day is one of the most important holidays on the calendar and its origins always arouse curiosity. No less than seven Saints named Valentine share the honour of being celebrated on February 14th and of being the patron saint of lovers, but for most historians, the true identity of Saint Valentine's Day has its origins in ancient Rome.
Father Valentine
On 14 February 269, the Roman emperor Claudius II had Father Valentinus arrested and executed for marrying young couples in secret, despite a law forbidding soldiers in the empire to marry. This law was intended to discourage men from staying with their families and thus filling the ranks of the military legions. Valentinus died a defender of marriage and love, but Valentine's Day was not yet born.
From pagan feast to Christian feast
Two centuries later, when Valentinus became a canonised martyr, Pope Gelasius he decided to kill two birds with one stone. Instead of completely abolishing a popular pagan festival celebrated on February 15th, he Christianised it by associating it with Saint Valentine, the great protector of couples and love, on an earlier day. The old Roman lupercalia festival no longer fitted in with the beliefs of the Christian church, since it worshipped Lupercus, the patron god of flocks and shepherds. The pope was certainly keen to end the festival's flagship event, in which half-naked men chased women and beat them with strips of animal skin to ensure fertility and a happy pregnancy. Finally, it was not until 1496, more than a thousand years later, that Pope Alexander VI ordered that St. Valentine's Day should officially become the Patron Saint of Lovers.
Gelasius I
The first Valentine's Day cards
Charles, Duke of Orleans and Marie de Clèves
The tradition of writing a text to our beloved for Valentine's Day originated in England in the 15th century, when Charles, Duke of Orleans, had been a prisoner of the English since the famous Battle of Azincourt (1415). On Valentine's Day, from the Tower of London where he was imprisoned, he would have addressed love letters to Marie de Clèves, with whom he was madly in love. Luck was on his side as he married her on his return. These writings would therefore be the first known Valentine's Day cards.
Birds mating seasons
As early as the Middle Ages, in France and England, it was a popular belief that the mating season for birds began on February 14. The story goes that young men took the opportunity to make their declaration of love and that young girls looked at the birds to find out the identity of their future husband. If they saw a robin, they would marry a sailor. If it was a sparrow, she would marry a poor man, while if it was a goldfinch, a rich man would ask for her hand in marriage.
Wacky? Maybe I am. Poetic? Certainly. Poetic.
Mon galantin
D’origine normande, le mot «galantin» désignait l’amoureux au Moyen-Âge. D’ailleurs, le terme «galant» existe toujours dans notre vocabulaire d'aujourd’hui. Difficile de ne pas y reconnaitre une étrange ressemblance avec le nom du Saint. Serait-il possible que cette proximité lexicologique ait valu à Valentin, le rôle de Saint Patron de Amoureux?
Having said that, we can see that we have a long history of celebrating love. Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion to proclaim our feelings for our loved ones. There are certainly flowers and chocolate, but fine jewellery remains the perfect gift idea. What if you were to ask her for her hand on Valentine's Day. Take the opportunity to buy a local product, handmade according to the highest standards of jewellery making. Flamme en rose will always be with you at the most important moments of your life.
