Today is Valentines Day, the celebration of romance, love and partnership. Otherwise known as Saint Valentines Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine. It’s an annual holiday that’s now celebrated in many parts of the world, although it is not public holiday in any country. Originally this was a Western Christian feast day, which was thrown in honour of an early saint known as Valentinus. Now this celebration is a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance. If you happen to be around Brighton this evening, you will see lots of couples out celebrating their relationship.
There is little evidence about the origins of Valentines day. However many believe that the saint was a priest of Rome in the 3rd century AD. There was a time when Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage. He thought that is made the married men soft and therefore less effective as soldiers. So it is said that saint Valentine saw this as unfair and decided to break the rules. St Valentine offered to marry people in secret, because he saw marriage as important. He managed to marry many couples but eventually Claudius the Emperor uncovered what was happening. As punishment, Claudius threw Valentine in jail and sentenced him to death.
During his time in jail, st Valentine fell in love with the jailers daughter. Their relationship grew as the death sentence approached. On the 14th of February, the day of the execution, Valentine wrote a letter to the jailers daughter. He titled it: ‘From your Valentine’.
Celebratory customs for Valentines day developed in modern times. No earlier than the 20th century, did these spread to other countries. The impact has been much more limited than Halloween and Christmas more so. Because of a dedicated marketing effort, the customs of Valentines day spread to East Asian countries. Especially to China and South Korea where the most amount of money is spent on Valentines gifts. Customs include buying presents, chocolates and flowers and as well as sending cards anonymously.