- Who was St Valentine?
- A famous saint – but aside from that, the details are sketchy. Some say he was a priest from Rome, Italy who lived in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II banned marriages, believing married men made bad soldiers. St Valentine is thought to have arranged marriages in secret, and was jailed and sentenced to death for his crimes.In jail, St Valentine apparently fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and sent her a love letter signed ‘from your Valentine’ on February 14, the day of his execution, as a goodbye.
- How did Valentine's Day come about?
- Some people believe the roots of the day stem from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, dedicated to the god Lupercus. On this day young men would draw the name of a woman from a jar, and they would become a couple for the rest of the festival. Over the years, February 14 became more popular and was romanticised by the likes of Chaucer and later Shakespeare. In 1537, England's King Henry VII officially declared the day St Valentine's Day.
- Why do some people send Valentine's cards anonymously?
- This trend was started by the Victorians, who thought it was bad luck to sign Valentine's cards with their names.
- What about roses?
- The Victorians also started the rose-giving trend. They were the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and have come to indicate passion and romance. Nowadays, more than 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day every year.
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