What is Valentine's legend?

Every February 14th, in all places around the world, candy, flowers and presents are exchanged among lovers, all on behalf of Valentine's Day.

But who is this mysterious saint and where do these traditions come from?

Who was Valentine's Day, and how did his figure relate to this ancient ritual?

The Catholic Church knows at least three different saints named Valentine, or Valentinus, who were all martyred.

One legend claims that St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that the only men were better soldiers than those who had wives and families, he decided to have the marriage of young men illegal. Valentine's Day, describing this decree as unfair, challenged Claudius and continued to marry young lovers in secret. When these acts of Valentine's were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be killed.

Other accounts suggest that St. Valentine may have been killed as a result of his efforts to rescue Christians from Roman prisons who served as a place of torture.

According to legend, there was a prisoner who sent the first romantic letter of “Valentine” after falling in love with a young girl perhaps with the prison guard's daughter, who visited her during her imprisonment. Before his death, he wrote this letter by signing it under the nickname “From your Valentin”, an expression used to this day.

Although the truth behind Valentine's legend is quite dark, all stories describe this Saint as a charming, heroic figure and most important: romantic. From the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to that reputation, Valentine would become one of the most famous saints in England and France.

The origin of Valentine's Day: A Pagan Festival

While some people believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in mid-February to commemorate the anniversary of the death of St. Valentine or his burial, which was probably about 270 AD; Others claim that the Christian Church may have set Valentine's Day in the middle of February in an effort to make people celebrate the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. It was a festival of fertility dedicated

Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and Roma founders Romulus and Remus, celebrated on February 15.

Lupercalia survived in the early Christian religion, but later it became illegal after being named Christian “ ”, at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelastius declared Valentine's Day on February 14th. However, it would be some time before this day was known as the festival of lovers.

During the Middle Ages, residents of France and England believed that February 14 was the start of the bird mating season, suggesting that even Valentine's Day would be celebrated as a day of romance.

The first letter sent to Valentine's Day belongs to 1415, where Duke of Orleans, Charls, sent a poem of love to his wife while imprisoned in the infamous Tower of London.

Nowadays, about 150 million cards are exchanged each year for Valentine's Day, making it the second most famous holiday after Christmas.