Valentine's Day first started in the Roman Empire. In Rome, February 14th was celebrated to honor Juno, the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses and also the Goddess of women and marriage. The day after began the feast of Lupercalia.In this time, boys and girls did not "hang out" like we do in this century. However, on the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, all the names of the Roman girls were written on a slip of paper. The boys would draw a name from the jar, and they would be partners for the festival. Sometimes the partners lasted a year, and some eventually went off and married.
Meanwhile, Emperor Claudius II of Rome was having trouble recruiting soldiers to join his military leagues. He thought that the Roman men did not want to leave their lovers or families. So he canceled all the Roman weddings. Saint Valentine (one of the many) was a priest at Rome and he secretly engaged couples. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and had him beaten and his head cut off. Valentine suffered martyrdom on February 14th.
There are many stories about how Valentine's Day came into place. The Catholic legend is that his jailer, Asterius, had a blind daughter and asked Valentine to heal her. It is said throught his strong faith he healed her. Just before his execution he asked for a pen and paper and wrote "From Your Valentine," a saying still here today.
There are many other stories and Saint Valentines back in Roman history but I thought this story sounded best. I thought this was very interesting to learn!! Now you'll know the story behind Valentine's Day!!!Cora
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