feature // 14

 

SAINT

The history of Valentin

er alee

\

NW

 

» How the least-favourite holiday of single folks came to be

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

ove is in the air at our

fine institution. Not only
because February’s most prolific
holiday is upon us quite shortly,
but also because I see relatively
tame public displays of affection
regularly. Quick pecks on the
lips, handholding, and even
something as simple as two
intimate people transfixed
by the conversation, smiling
at one another—seeing all of
these things, and experiencing
them myself, just puts a big
smile on my face. Call me
idealistic to a fault, but 1 love
to see others happy and in
love, simply because after a few
years of nothing but unhealthy,
meaningless relationships, I
now consider myself very happy
and in love.

I personally disagree with

the idea that Valentine’s Day
is the yearly culmination of
the love you have for your
significant other (especially so
early in the year); that said, the

: history of the holiday is rather

: complicated. Perhaps you'll

: find that knowing where these

: traditions come from will make
: chocolates, love letters, and

: dinner dates mean even a little

: bit more. However, there’s a lot
: of ambiguity and confusion in

: terms of the man himself, Saint
: Valentine, who lived during

: the third century in Rome and

: inspired his eponymous day.

According to a combination

: of loose evidence and possibly
: exaggerated legends and

: myth (95 per cent the latter),

: Saint Valentine was a Roman

: Catholic priest during the two-
: year reign (268-270) of Roman
: emperor Claudius II—a time

: when Christians were rather

: looked down upon. Claudius

: II, though an emperor for an

: extremely short time, hada very :
: successful career in the military
: department. To keep that up, he :
: went ahead and banned young
: men from marrying in Rome.

: He saw women as nothing

: more than a distraction to his

: army of bloodthirsty bachelors.

: He, logically, wanted his men
: to keep their focus off of the

: Opposite sex and have them

: totally invested in grievous

: bodily harm and murder.

Saint Valentine made

: the brave decision to defy

: the emperor’s new law, and

: in the name of the Catholic

: Church, began uniting the

: young lovebirds of Rome in

: holy matrimony. Ina society

: where polygamy was not only
: permitted but the norm, the

: patron saint of love believed

: that marriage was the most

: sacred bond possible between
: two people. When exactly

: the inevitable happened is

: lost to history, but eventually,
: Saint Valentine was caught by
: Claudius II and the Romans,

: and was unceremoniously

tortured and beheaded. Ina

: not-so-conclusively proven

sentiment, it’s generally said

: that the aforementioned
: execution happened on
: February 14.

While this man obviously

changed many lives for the

: \ 4

od

e's Day

: better, his name didn’t become
: synonymous with love until the
: 14th century, right around the

: time legendary poet Geoffrey

: Chaucer was in the middle of

: writing “The Canterbury Tales”
: and singlehandedly altering

: the entire English language.

: One of his works, a love poem

: called “Parlement of Foules,”

: associates the feast of Saint

: Valentine with romance.

: Translated from old English,

: “For this was Saint Valentine’s

: Day, when all the birds of every
: kind that men can imagine

: come to choose their mates.”

As you can imagine, it’s

: entirely possible that there

: were multiple references to

: love and Saint Valentine in

: writings before “Parlement

: of Foules.”” Whether or not

: Chaucer deserves credit for

: basically originating the

: modern idea of Valentine’s Day
: is a question that will likely

: never be answered. If there

: are any references that pre-

: date Chaucer’s, we can safely
: consider them lost to time.

theotherpress.ca

 

 

England, Chaucer’s home

: country, started the tradition of
: gifts and love notes (the former
: during the 1600s, the latter

: during the 1700s). Specialty

: cards made for Valentine’s Day

: were a product of the early-

: mid 19th century, at which

: point they crossed the pond

: from England to America and

: became a tradition on both

: sides of the prime meridian.

: Over the course of the rest of

: the century, Valentine’s cards

: would fluctuate greatly in

: popularity. Post-Civil War was

: a particularly good time to be

: in the specialty card business,

: but shortly after that they

: tooka massive nosedive in

: popularity until the 1920s, when
: Valentine’s Day as we know it

: today was finally set in stone.

: It’s not quite Batman-level in

: terms of origin stories, but Saint
: Valentine is pretty impressive:

: breaking a bunch of laws for

: completely selfless reasons, at

: the risk and eventual sacrifice

: of his own life.

 

 

Image from Wikimedia