The origin of Valentine’s Day

The Valentine’s Day holiday goes back to a Christian priest Valentine. 

This story dates back to around 269 A. D., when the Roman Empire was ruled by the Emperor Claudius II. Militant Roman army felt the shortage of soldiers for military campaigns, and the Emperor was convinced that the main enemy of his "Napoleonic" plans are marriages because a married soldier thinks about his family rather than about the glory of the empire. So, to keep a military spirit of his soldiers, the Emperor issued an edict forbidding the legionaries to marry.

But, fortunately for the soldiers, there was a man who was not afraid of the Emperor’s wrath and secretly married the legionnaires with their loved ones. That was a priest named Valentine of the Roman city of Terni. His favorite pastimes was to reconcile couples after an argument, to help to write love letters and at the request of legionnaires give flowers to their loved ones.

On hearing this, the Emperor ordered to punish the disobedient priest. Valentine was executed.Later, as a Christian martyr who suffered for his faith, Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. And in 496, Pope Helasius announced February 14 the Valentine’s Day.

People began to massively celebrate this holiday in the thirteenth century in Western Europe, and since 1777 in the U.S. In America it was a custom to send marzipan to one’s fiancee.In Japan, they began to celebrate Valentine’s Day in 1930, and chocolate still remains the most common gift.Passionate French on Valentine’s Day traditionally give jewelry, as in romantic Denmark people send each other dried white flowers.