Valentine's Day?

It’s been a few days since I weighed myself and I didn’t do it this morning either. Honestly, I’ve lost my way a bit. That sense of purpose, that eye of the tiger. Things have been a bit dark in the house for the past several days. We all have been sick and it is so easy to get caught up in surviving everyday life. I’ve got some kind of bronchitis thing that I cannot get rid of and as a result, I haven’t exercised literally in days. Some cheer needs to come back to my house.

Today is Valentine’s Day. What better way to bring back the joy than a holiday devoted to love? I thought I might look into this fine holiday a bit. It turns out that the basis for Valentine’s Day is not one but a couple of Saints named Valentine: Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni. The fun fact about these saints is that they were martyrs. They were killed because they were Christians. I am looking for love here and I get death. In case you want to get in touch with these saints, you can find their “relics” in Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni and the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome.

So how did these guys who were killed for their devotion to a fledgling religion get associated with romantic love? Well part of it seems to come from religious politics of early Christianity. Pagans had various celebrations devoted to fertility during the middle of February. Some have argued that the feast of St. Valentine was designed to co-opt a Pagan holiday and Christianize it.

Others suggest that Chaucer had something to do with this. In his 1382 Parlement of Foules Chaucer wrote, “For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.” This is dicey at best. It turns out that the middle of February is not the time for birds to be making whoopee in England. In fact, some have suggested that Chaucer was really referring to yet another Valentine, this one from Genoa. He’s got his own Saints’ day and it is May 2—a much better time for birds to get busy in England.

The language of love came to be associated with Valentine’s Day in 1400 in Paris when the “High Court of Love” was established. Apparently bringing legal approaches to matters of the heart, this court dealt with love contracts, betrayals, and violence against women. Not exactly the warm fuzzy you expect from Valentine’s Day, but a good idea nonetheless. The judges for this court were picked by women on the basis of a poetry reading. Somehow these poems helped associate Valentine’s Day with courtly love, poems, and the like.

Apparently, sending hand-written poems became fashionable in England near the turn off the 19th century. I assume one of many attempts by the masses to adopt courtly behavior of the upper classes from days gone by—the Victorian Era. By the middle of the 19th century, mass produced paper Valentines were popular in both the United Kingdom and the US. Apparently, once people realized they could make money things really took off. Some version of Valentine’s Day is celebrated throughout Europe, North America and even into South America. Thanks to concerted marketing efforts, the celebration made its way to places like Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea, and the Philippines early in the 20th century.

Most famously in India, Valentine’s Day, our Western celebration of romantic love, has sparked violence rather than spontaneous exchanges of love. Surprisingly, some Hindu fundamentalists see the celebration as a Western intrusion that promotes commercialism and sex. Shops selling Valentine shwag have been trashed. Groups of fundamentalists armed with batons apparently patrol public places and harass Valentine’s Day-card holding lovers.

So, this day devoted to romantic love has its roots in some dudes named Valentine who died as religious martyrs. It was established as a religious holiday in order to increase the palatability of Christianity to Pagans and help bring about the extermination of an ancient religion. Its association with romantic love comes out of this religious imperialism and the legalization of courtly romantic behavior in Medieval Europe. It was popularized by Victorian glorification of past courtly behavior and perpetuated and spread by the profit search of industrial capitalism. Instead of love, it is driven by overwhelming commercialism, leading to it being called a “Hallmark Holiday.” This commercial drive has spread it around the globe, in some places inspiring not love but violence. The history of Valentine’s Day nicely captures the history of Western cultural dominance and the rise of industrial capitalism.

Wow, that didn’t bring much joy, did it?

I still love my wife and kids and got them candy, cards, and presents. The kids are totally jazzed on sugar, my wife likes her new earrings, and I got a really nice card and some tasty candies. It may have a crappy history, but Valentine’s Day brought a bit of happiness to my house again this year.