First, there was a Valentine's Day to bring romance into the equation, in mid-February was an important day for lovers. From 400 years BC, the Romans held an annual lottery in the name of their god Lupercus. The names of teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men. The 'winners' were legally coupled to one year.
Meanwhile, the mad emperor Claudius banned marriage for young people - believed that single men made better soldiers.
A Christian bishop, Valentine, disagreed with his emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies until Claudius found out and imprisoned before him, and eventually was beaten, stoned and beheaded on February 24, 270.
While in prison, Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer, and when he got to run, he left a note signed 'From your Valentine'.
Taking the name of St. Valentine in vain, the Church in AD 496, has finally decided to abolish the annual membership raffle off in honor of the god Lupercus, and so decreed a small change in the rules:
Since then, both young men and young women would choose a name out of a hat, but instead of getting a year of company (and often lust), they drew the name of a saint whose life had to spend the next emulating years.
It must have been quite a disappointment to the Roman hot young bleeding!
They called the day after St. Valentine, whose intervention, 226 years after his death, was more to usurp the pagan god which means love.
Fortunately, the public memory was more powerful than the political will and Valentine remained associated with lovers. Young Roman men, deprived of their lottery, took the hand instead of handwritten notes for the women who admired February 14.
The tradition of Valentine's card was then entered into more than 1500 years ago!
The first card is still known to exist today in the British Museum. It was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife. He was a prisoner in the Tower of London at the time, and so his feelings of love were probably more acute than most!
In the sixteenth century, the Bishop of Geneva, attempted to restore the name of the Holy annual lottery, but his efforts were of short duration. February 14 was too close relationship with the fans for the Church to interfere with success.
In 1797 an English publisher, he would do very well in modern times of Internet, has published 'the young writer Valentine', which offers dozens of suggestions for creative ways sentimental question.
The practice of sending anonymous cards began with the Victorians, who secretly loved nothing racy nature, but information necessary to maintain a respectful show of purity. So, the verses in the cards has become more and more obscene, but the authors remained hidden behind anonymity.
The first publisher of Valentine's Day cards in America, Esther Holland pay up to $ 35 per card. And this was in 1870!
Finally, the kisses are written as 'x', because in the days of illiteracy, the signature is a cross. To convey the effect of an oath, people would draw up their cross and kiss it - the same way that they would kiss the Bible. So the X and the kiss becomes one and the same.
Have a nice Valentine's Day! X
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