St Valentine’s Day is celebrated all around the world on

February 14th.  

Historically Valentine’s Day is a festival with origins in Roman times based around the coming of Spring which often included fertility rights; in the 14th century it changed to being a day to celebrate romance.

Today lovers (and would be lovers!) everywhere celebrate the day by demonstrating their affection with gifts and cards. Valentine’s Day cards first appeared in the 1500s and by the end of the 1700s printed cards were being produced and sold. Other traditional gifts include sweets and chocolate, messages of love and affection, and of course flowers – in particular red roses – that well known symbol of love and beauty.

There are several legends that detail where the name for the day comes from and the most common version derives from that of a famous saint, however different versions of the story can be found. 

This most popular tells the story that he was a priest from Rome.  The Emperor of the time, Claudius II, had banned marriage as he believed that married men couldn’t be good soldiers.  The priest Valentine didn’t believe in this theory so he continued to arrange marriages in secret – defying the Emperor and thus breaking the law.  When the Emperor discovered what had been going on the priest Valentine was jailed and sentenced to death.  Whilst in jail Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and on the day he was taken to be killed – 14th February – he sent her a love letter which he signed “from your Valentine”.