Valentine’s Day Has Not Always Been about Roses and Candy
A short and bloody history of the February holiday
For lovers and optimists, Valentine’s Day, celebrated annually on February 14, is seen as a happy day to celebrate the love in one’s life.
For those not in a relationship, its appearance on the calendar is not noted as cheerfully.
The day has not always meant cheerful messages on candy hearts or roses by the dozen. The origins of the holiday, and events associated with it, are much darker.
Saint(s) Valentine
The true origins of the holiday are shrouded in mystery. One could be forgiven for thinking there must be only one Saint Valentine whom the day is meant to honor, but that would be too simple. There are multiple “Saint Valentines” recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. These saints’ lives are so shrouded in history and mystery — most listed as having lived in the second or third century of the Common Era — that it is hard to know who the true inspiration for the holiday was.
Many books and histories suggest that the Saint Valentine who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II is the patron saint of February 14. Life under “Claudius the Cruel” (as he was known) was not easy. The Emperor embroiled Rome in so many military campaigns that it is said he had a hard time recruiting enough men into military service. Because Claudius believed that men were unwilling to leave their homes for long periods because they missed their spouses, he forbade marriages and engagements.
Saint Valentine is thought to have married Christian couples in defiance of Claudius II. He also was known for evangelizing for the spread of the Christian faith. When Claudius learned what Valentine was doing, he had him executed in the year 269 AD (on Feb. 14, according to legend). The ruler lived up to his cruel nickname. After having Valentine arrested, he ordered that he be beaten with clubs and beheaded. He was buried outside of Rome.
Lupercalia
The ancient pagan celebration that preceded Valentine’s Day was also marked by bloodshed.
Held each year in Rome between February 13 and 15, the celebration featured celebrations that often became violent. During this festival, individuals engaged in copious and random coitus in the hopes that their frenzy would frighten off evil spirits and even infertility.
When twin boys Romulus and Remus were born in ancient Roman times, their great-uncle, King Amulius, ordered them killed. (Amulius wanted to keep his throne and feared that any children or blood relatives would kill him in order to take his crown.) When they were born, servants took them in a basket to the shore of the Tiber River, but they lived, and were found and raised by a she-wolf in a den near the hill upon which Rome would one day be founded. When the twins grew up, they founded the city of Rome. They also named the cave where they had been raised “Lupercal.” They did this both to honor their adoptive she-wolf mother and the Roman god of fertility, Lupercus.
The feast of Lupercalia typically opened with the sacrifice of animals to Lupercus. The festival was also marked by a tradition in which Roman men drew the names of women with whom they would be coupled during the festival. Both men and women celebrated while naked, and the men often whipped the women, causing them to bleed. Women are thought to have submitted to this ritual to increase their fertility.
In the 5th century, Catholic Pope Gelasius I decided to replace the Lupercalia holiday with one honoring Saint Valentine instead. The new holiday was to be celebrated on February 14.
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
For seven members of Chicago’s North Side Gang in 1929 Chicago, Valentine’s Day was anything but a day of love.
On that day, the forces loyal to the leader of the Irish-American North Side mobsters, “Bugs” Moran, and their Italian-American rivals, led by Al Capone, clashed. Seven men from the north side were led into a garage in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and shot by four killers using submachine guns. The pictures taken at the scene remain some of the bloodiest and most unsettling crime pictures that ever came out of the period of Prohibition, when selling alcohol was illegal in the United States.
A bleak history
For those of you who love this holiday, some of its bleak history may come as a shock to you.
To those of you who have never been fans of its overpriced gifts and forced unreasonable expectations, however, learning that the history of Valentine’s day includes bloodshed and executions might give you just the justification you need to not celebrate it at all.