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St. Valentine's Day

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It is thought that St. Valentine's day dates back to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia.  Early Rome was plagued by marauding packs of wolves from the woods nearby.  On February 15th the Romans would celebrate the festival of Lupercalia by sacrificing goats at the cave called Lupercal, to one of their gods, Lupercus.  This cave was supposedly where the two founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus were suckled by a wolf - Lupus in Latin.  Lupercalia was celebrated as a spring festival, and February 15th was early springtime as the Roman calendar was then different.

During the early days of Christianity in Rome, Emperor Claudius II decreed that Roman soldiers may not marry or get engaged. The thinking was that soldiers with such emotional bonds would rather stay at home than fight wars.  During Emperor Claudius's reign a priest called Valentine defied this law and secretly married young couples. Valentine was eventually arrested, imprisoned and beheaded on February 14th.  As Rome became more Christian, priests moved the holiday of Lupercalia to February 14th.  This day then became an occasion to celebrate Valentine, rather than the pagan festival of Lupercalia

The giving of Valentine cards started in the 16th century although the custom of sending them didn't become popular until the 18th.  Then cards were hand made and the sender made up romantic messages.  The 19th century saw the arrival of the first commercial Valentine cards.  The early part of the 20th century saw a decline in the giving of Valentine cards as the verses had become more obscene than romantic.  The 1930's saw a revival and commercially produced cards began to be more popular.

Today retailers are confident of bumper sales of Valentine cards and gifts. It is impossible to open a paper, watch the TV or surf the web (even on this website!) without being reminded of St. Valentine's Day.  Even though it's all very commercialised, wouldn't it be a shame to let old traditions die?

St. Valentine's Day article © Wimbledon Visitor 2006

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Section: St. Valentine's Day