Long before there was a Saint Valentine to warm the heart and inject passion into the cold winter, mid-February was an exciting time for lovesick young people. As early as 400 years before Christ, Roman citizens conducted a popular yearly sweepstake in honor of their god Lupercus. Young women's names were placed in a box and then picked at random by young men from their town or village. The couples thus selected were effectively 'married' for the next twelve months.
Six centuries later, the warlike emperor Claudius II put a stop to marriage for young men -- he believed that unattached youths were more efficient warriors.
An early Christian priest, Valentine, dared to disagree with his Emperor and disobeyed the law and performed secret marriage ceremonies until Claudius dicovered his disloyalty and locked him up, and eventually had him clubbed, stoned and beheaded on February 24th, 270.
While he was imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with his guard's daughter and when he was finally taken to be killed, he sent her a letter which he ended with, 'From your Valentine.'
Using the name of the martyred priest as an excuse, the by now established Christian Church, in AD 496, saw a great opportunity to finally abolish the traditional partnership sweepstake held in honor of the god Lupercus and so made some changes of their own to the rules of the event:
From then on, either gender would randomly choose from the box, but instead of the traditional partnering for a year (or, indeed, the more earthy benefits that were implied), they would now receive the name of a Saint whose character they were obliged emulate over the coming twelve months.
What a crushing disappointment that must have been for the lusty youngsters in Roman days!
They named the day after Saint Valentine whose selection, 226 years after his death, was intended more to displace the old-religion god Lupercus than to signify love.
As politicians through the ages often forget, the public's memory was more powerful than political will -- particularly when unpopular and Saint Valentine's name continued to be linked with passion and love. Young Roman men, now that they had lost their lottery, took instead to passing hand-written notes to the girls they hoped to gain favor with on February 14th.
So it was that the modern habit of giving Valentines cards was started more than one-and-a-half millennia ago!
The very first modern-day card that is still in existence is currently in the british Museum in London. It was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife in 1415. The poor man was a 'guest' in the Tower of London at the time and so outpourings of love were probably quite heightened!
Five hundred years ago the Bishop of Geneva tried to reinstate the yearly 'live like a saint' lottery, but the people were not much interested. February 14th was by then too firmly associated with lovers for the Church to successfully interfere.
At the end of the 18th century, in 1797 a British publisher, a man who would have done well in modern times, issued a guidebook called 'The Young Man's Valentine Writer' which offered hundreds of suggestions of Valentines messages for the creatively challenged.
Anonymous Valentines cards all started with the Victorians. Those outwardly straight-laced folks secretly loved anything sensual and passionate, but publicly had to maintain an aura of respectful purity. As a consequence the words in Victorian cards became really quite filthy, while the writers remained hidden behind a respectful anonymity.
The first publisher of Valentine's cards in the U.S., Esther Holland charged up to $35 for a single card. An enormous amount of money way back in 1870!
In case you are wondering, love messages are traditionally ended with an 'x' because in the days before people could generally read and write, your signature was a cross. To convey the effect of an oath, people would draw their cross and kiss it -- much the same as they would kiss the Bible. Over time the written 'x' became a written substitute for a kiss.
I wish you a love-filled Valentine's day! X
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