Legends take the story of Valentine’s Day to AD 270 when a priest named Saint Valentine
People of all ages, from teens to seniors, are embracing love as the Valentine’s Day stokes the embers of romance today. There are legends about the backstory behind the day, but very few care as they celebrate all thing beautiful on February 14 every year.
Legends take the story of Valentine’s Day to AD 270 when a priest named Saint Valentine was martyred by the Roman emperor Claudius II Gothicus. As per the legend, the priest signed a letter to his jailer’s daughter, with whom he had fallen in love, “from your Valentine.”
There are also theories surrounding several Christian martyrs named Valentine. Some say it could have been originated in the ancient Roman celebration of the Feast of Lupercalia in honor of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses, on February 14. Juno was also the goddess of women and marriage so honouring her was thought to be a fertility rite.
At the feast held the next day, the women would write love-letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted centuries.
Whatever the legend behind Valentine's Day, it doesn't stop people worldwide from celebrating love.
Origin of Valentine’s Day cards:
The custom of exchanging cards and other tokens of love on February 14 began to develop in England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries and became especially popular in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In England in 1477 Margery Brews sent a letter to her fiance, John Paston of Norfolk addressing him as “my right wele-belovyd Voluntyn”.
In the United States the first commercially produced cards were manufactured by Robert H. Elton of New York in 1834.
(With Reuters inputs)
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 "Street vendors selling balloons are seen ahead of Valentines Day at a market in Bangkok")
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