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600 BCE
Lupercalia - Feast of Lupercal
Just like the origins of Valentine's, some of the earliest findings of Lupercalia can be dated back to the 6th Century B.C, During Lupercalia, the men randomly choose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival. Often, the couple stayed together until the following year’s festival. Many fell in love and married. -
270
Origin of Valentine
The origins of Valentine are very unclear, a story states that there was a priest named "Valentines" in the 3rd century, who went against the ideology of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, Claudius believed that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. Despite Claudius‘s ideology the priest Valentine defied Claudius by performing marriages for young lovers in secret when Valentine's actions were discovered Claudius sentenced him to death. -
490
Martyrdom of Saint Valentine
Lupercalia was classified as "unchristian" at the end of the 5th Century, by Pope Gelasius who believed that the 14th of February should be associated with love -
1415
The First Valentine
The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned (A Farewell To Love) -
William Shakespeare - Hamlet
In playwright William Shakespeare’s famed play Hamlet, the character Ophelia sadly refers to Valentine’s Day and tells her husband Hamlet how she wishes to be his Valentine. (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5) -
The Start of Sharing Cards
During the 18th century, Americans started writing handwritten cards to their lovers -
Technology Advances
As technology advances, Valentine's day has progressed into a commercialized holiday where people buy roses and gifts to show their love and affection to their loved ones -
Present Day
From the stories of the priest to writing cards with affection, Valentines has come a long way depending on whose perspective, Valentines is now widely known around the world and is a tradition to most.
