BP 6- A Day of Love

Valentine’s Day is known as the holiday of love to many. This is the day to buy your loved one chocolates, flowers, jewelry, and a nice dinner. And for a long time the holiday has been known as such, but it wasn’t always like that. Although the underlying premise of love has always been present for the holiday the way people celebrate it has not. Valentines day originated as a roman festival named Lupercalia.
In the 3rd century AD the Romans would celebrate Lupercalia from February 13th to the 15th. During this festival men would sacrifice animals a run around hitting women with the pelts. It was believed that doing this would bless the woman with fertility. Through a matchmaking system where men would pick a womans name at random the two would spend the festival together and in some cases the rest of their lives.

Another perspective on the holiday is that it was created to honor two men named valentine who were both executed on February 14th of two different years by the Roman emperor Claudius II. Claudius beleived that unmarried men would make better soldiers so he outlawed young men being able to marry. One of the valentines was beleived to be officiating weddings and was executed for it. Because they were viewed as martyrs the catholic church after it rose in power named the holiday after them for their deeds.

Although it's beleived that these were the origins of Valentine's Day the romantic qualities of it that it's known for to this day are beleived to have started as early as the middle ages. William shakespeare a renowned poet is viewed as a main contributor to the love aspects of the holiday. Shakespeare would include romantic elements in his poems which became popular. Other people would begin to write these love poems on cards and give them to someone else.

The debate between researchers on the orgins of the holiday is still being discussed. While it's unclear whether it was created to honor a couple or martyrs or the continuation of a festival practiced by the romans. Evidence suggests that Valentine's day orginated as Lupercalia considering the age of the festival. Then the name along with the way the holiday is celebrated changed over time.

Sources:

• The Real History of Valentine’s Day.” Lifehacker, https://lifehacker.com/the-real-history-of-valentines-day-1822975633
• Murtaugh, Taysha, and Rebekah Lowin. “The History of Valentine’s Day Actually Isn’t That Romantic.” Country Living, 5 Feb. 2020, https://www.countryliving.com/life/news/a46353/history-of-valentines-day/.
• “The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day.” NPR.Org, https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day.