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Enchanted Blog – Valentine's Day History

HolidayValentine's Day
February 12, 2022
Valentine's Day Crafts and Activities►
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written by Audrey Col-Spector
Table of Contents
  • Happy Valentine’s Day!
  • Origins in the Ancient World
  • St. Valentine
  • Birds in Love
  • Vinegar Valentines? (Plus flowers, chocolates, and jewelry!)
  • Enjoy Valentine’s Day 2022
  •  
  • Links to Fun Activities
    • Valentine’s Day theme page
    • Selected Valentine’s Day crafts
    • A sampling of our cards (Send a card to your Valentine!)
    • Selected printable books for Valentine’s Day
    • A sampling of Valentine’s Day worksheets
    • Writing and poetry
    • Miscellaneous Valentine’s Day activities

Valentine's day card Valentine's day card Valentine's day card Valentine's day card

Happy Valentine’s Day!

FlowersWe love to love love on Valentine’s Day! The history of this holiday is very old — today it’s a straightforward celebration of romance, but it wasn’t always like that. The jury’s out on whether Valentine’s Day began as a pagan fertility ritual or for remembering St. Valentine. It was most likely a bit of both.

Origins in the Ancient World

In mid-February, the ancient Romans would celebrate the fertility holiday, Lupercalia. This was a Roman festival geared towards celebrating both Rome (by honoring the founders, Romulus and Remus), the goddess of marriage (Juno), as well as the god of agriculture (Faunus). Greek amphoraThe festival wasn’t romantic by modern standards. The Romans would sacrifice animals, which was thought to make them more fertile. Then the Roman men would pick single women’s names out of an urn, to pair up for the festival and likely get married later on. Yep. The ancient world was pretty strange.

Cherub, by RaphaelThe Greeks had gotten in on this party even earlier. They didn’t care that much about February, but they did celebrate love. The Greek god of love, Eros, is what the Roman god of love, Cupid, is based on. Eros was said to be vain and handsome; he shot golden arrows at others to make them fall in love (and lead-tipped arrows to make people dislike each other!). If this sounds familiar, it should! That’s where we get the modern legend of Cupid.

St. Valentine

Of course, the Greeks and Romans weren’t the only ones with traditions of love. In fact, if you look for the origins of Valentine’s Day, you’ll find multiple Christian saints who went by Valentine or Valentinus! They are said to have helped innocent Christians escape jail and/or to have married soldiers when doing so was illegal.

"Be My Valentine" cardAccording to legend, while one of the Saint Valentines was in a Roman prison, he cured the jailer’s daughter of blindness. He then wrote a love letter to her, signing it: From your Valentine. True or not, you can’t help but feel for St. Valentine–a guy just trying his best to rescue people, and then falling in love. In the legend, they didn’t meet a good end: he was killed in mid-February.

And that may be why Valentine’s Day is in mid-February. Or… the Church “adopted” the pagan holiday Lupercalia, by making the pagan festival illegal in the 5th century and replacing it with St. Valentine’s Day. Take your pick, but it’s probably a combination of the two!

Birds in Love

Two bald eagles singing together

These singing bald eagles found a mate, but in Chaucer’s story, the female eagle turns down her male suitors. All the other birds find love though!

Though February 14th was now St. Valentine’s Day, it took quite a while before it resembled the modern holiday. It became a bit more light-hearted in the Middle Ages. People started to think of Valentine’s Day as when birds started to find their mates for the season!

This English and French tradition gained steam around 1382 when the poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote Parlement of Foules (that’s in Middle English—it would now be written Parliament of Fowls). In it he wrote about birds seeking love on St. Valentine’s Day.

Over in France, King Charles VI in 1400 started the Charter of the Court of Love. This wonderfully named group would meet each February 14th to sing original love songs in a competition.

Vinegar Valentines? (Plus flowers, chocolates, and jewelry!)

Modern Valentine’s Day has its roots in the 1600s, where people across the world really started celebrating the holiday for love and romance. People would exchange small tokens, like chocolates or spoons! "Be My Velociraptor Valentine" CardThe Victorians adored the holiday. Many used the day to send love letters to people, which is great. But others sent “vinegar valentines”: the cards would be insulting or sarcastic, or would be a break-up message. Historians think that half of the Victorian Valentine cards were actually these negative ones! Very few survive today–we imagine the recipients weren’t too happy to receive them.

Valentine cardThe holiday also became commercialized over time. The American Esther Howland has the wonderful title of the Mother of the Valentine, as she began making mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. Western Europe took to sending Valentine’s cards quickly, though it was only after the Civil War that it became popular in the United States.

Cameo habilleBut popular it became. So much so that a billion Valentine’s Day cards are delivered each year, and so many flowers are bought for February 14th that it totals 13% of annual flower sales in the US. That’s not even touching on the jewelry and chocolates!

Enjoy Valentine’s Day 2022

FamilyMany people say that, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, this holiday is more important to celebrate than ever. No matter how Valentine’s Day has evolved, it’s wonderful to spend time with someone you love.

 

Links to Fun Activities

Valentine’s Day theme page

Valentine's Day pop-up card

Have fun with the holiday with our Valentine’s Day Theme page — crafts, decorations, worksheets, activities, and printouts.

Selected Valentine’s Day crafts

Valentine's Day mobile

Valentine Heart Wreath
3D Hearts Mobile
Valentine Heart Animals

A sampling of our cards (Send a card to your Valentine!)

Pop-up heart garden Valentine's card

Hole Punch Valentine’s Day Heart Card
Dinosaur Valentines
Pop-up Flower Vase Card

Selected printable books for Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day "I Can..." printable book

Valentine’s Day Word Book
How Many Colorful Hearts?
‘On Valentine’s Day…’ Early Reader Book.

A sampling of Valentine’s Day worksheets

Hearts follow-the-instructions worksheet

Valentine’s Day Wordsearch
Fill in the Missing Letters in Valentine Words
Valentine’s Day Spelling Word Questions
Hearts Follow-the-Instructions Printout

Writing and poetry

Heart acrostic poem

Valentine’s Day Acrostic Poem
Write a Sentence for Each Word
Heart Shape Poem

Miscellaneous Valentine’s Day activities

Add then Decode the Valentine's Day Secret Message

Learn to say “I Love You” in many languages
Add then Decode the Valentine’s Day Secret Message
Match and Unscramble the Valentine’s Day Alliterations

Other Links:
Valentine's Day
All Valentine's Day Activities
Valentine's Day Crafts
String of 3-D Hearts
3-D Heart Mobile
Valentine Heart Wreath
Clear Heart Candy Gift
Valentine Heart Animals
Valentine Heart Crown
Tissue Paper Flowers
Flowerpot Pen Holder
Painted Flowerport
Woven Heart Basket
Valentine's Day Cards
Heart in Hand Valentine Cards
Fingerpaint Valentine Cards
Heart Picture Valentine Cards
Hole Punch Heart Valentine Cards
Dinosaur Valentines
Valentine Rose Coupon Card
Valentine Coupon Card
Sponge Heart Valentine Cards
Shiny Valentine Card
Pop-Up Valentine Card
Pop-Up Flower Vase Valentine Card
Tissue Paper Flower Card Craft
Pop-Up Heart Garden Valentine Card
Lollipop Valentine Cards
Brown Paper Valentine's Card
Curved Flap Valentine Cards
Hand-Made Envelope Craft
All-Purpose Check-Off Card
Valentine's Day Drawing and Coloring Activities
Trace or Cut Out the Heart
Draw Four Valentine's Day Items
Valentine's Day Card Draw-and-Write Worksheet
Draw and Compare Valentine's Day Gifts
Hearts: Follow the Instructions
Symmetrical Heart Picture Finish-the-Drawing Worksheet
Raphael Coloring Page
Valentine's Day Spelling Activities
Valentine's Day Word Wheel
Valentine Wordsearch Puzzle
Valentine's Day Word Hunt Worksheet
Missing Letters in Valentine Words
Unscramble Valentine Words
Valentine's Day Spelling Word Questions
Match the Syllables: Valentine's Day Words
Put 10 Valentine's Day Words in Alphabetical Order - Worksheet
Circle the Correctly Spelled Valentine's Day Words
Picture Cloze Worksheet for Valentine's Day Words
Valentine's Day Word Ladder Puzzle Worksheet
List of Valentine's Day Words
Valentine's Day Booklets to Print
Valentine's Day Tiny Picture Dictionary
Valentine's Day Cut-and-Paste Picture Dictionary
How Many Colorful Hearts? Printable Activity Book
My Heart, A Printable Activity Book About Feelings
Valentine's Day I Can... Printable Activity Book
On Valentine's Day, People... Printable Activity Book
Pour la Saint-Valentin / For Valentine's Day (French)
Valentine's Day Words Mini-Book
Miscellaneous Valentine's Day Activities
"I Love You" in Many Languages
Circle the Symmetrical Valentine's Day Pictures
Write a "Love" Acrostic Poem
Valentine's Day Acrostic Poem
Write a "Friends" Acrostic Poem
Valentine Brainstorming Activity
Match Valentine Words and Pictures
Write a Sentence for Each Valentine's Day Word
Valentine's Day Grammar Worksheet
Match the Valentine's Day Synonyms
Valentine's Day Verbal Analogies
Write Valentine's Day Alliterations
Match and Unscramble the Valentine's Day Alliterations
Valentine Alphabet Code
Add, then Decode the Secret Valentine's Day Message
Subtract, then Decode the Valentine's Day Riddle
Hearts Venn Diagram Printout #1
Hearts Venn Diagram Printout #2
Heart: Shape Poem
Heart: Perimeter Poem
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Author of this page – Audrey Col-Spector
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