When & how did Valentines Day start?

Answer 1

I posted these links to another questionner earlier today. They discuss the modern start of Valentine's day fairly objectively.
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sai...
And Another, more broad:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/279285.stm...
--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 2

Happy Valentine´s Day Angel!

Answer 3

There's a few different stories about how it first started, but the one that's most widely known, I think, is during the third century in Rome, the emporer of the time, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than men with families and wives. So he outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine, the priest of the time, realized how unfair this was, so he continued to perform marriages. Emperor Claudius found out about this and ordered St Valentine to be put to death. Valentine's Day is supposed to be the anniversary of the death of St Valentine. For more in-depth information, you can go to:
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=882&display_order=1&mini_id=1084

Answer 4

It started in Roman times as a celebration of Lupercalia held on Feb 15th.Lupercalia honoured the gods of Lupercus and Faunus,also the legendary founders of Rome Romolus & Faunus. The festivities included the pairing of young men and women until the next years celebration.
It became Valentines Day when a preist named Valentine a romantic at heart introduced it.
Emperor Claudis disagreed with this celebration as it distracted his soldiers and so Valentine was put to death...made a saint and so on, his death was on Feb 14th, as christianity spread through Rome the preists carried on the tradition and called it Valentines day.

Answer 5

Most scholars agree the Valentine's Day began in ancient Rome. The most widely accepted story has to do with Saint Valentine.

Valentine lived in Rome during the 3rd century. During that time, Rome was ruled by the Emperor Claudius who attempted to make a volunteer army for Rome. However, he was quite disappointed when the number of men who signed up was less than he expected. He believed the reason that men did not want to fight was because they did not want to leave their wives and children. In order to preserve his army, he placed a ban on marriage throughout Rome.

Valentine was a priest and he did not agree with the law, so he continued marrying couples in secret. Eventually he was caught, imprisoned and sentenced to death. He had many supporters while in prison, including the daughter of the prison guard.

Legend states that on the day he died, February 14th, Valentine left a note for her thanking her for being there for him. He signed it, "Love from your Valentine." Most people do not realize that they are giving a Valentine's Day gift on the day that Valentine himself was killed!

Answer 6

http://www.waxandwane.co.uk/valentinesDayHistory-print.shtml

Valentines day history
February is the month, we start to think about love. For many centuries, February 14, St Valentines day has been a celebration for lovers. February 14th reminds us all to tell our loved ones just how much we care. Do you know the origins of Saint Valentine's day?

At the time of the Roman Empire, Valentine's day started. On February 14th ancient romans had a holiday to honour Juno, the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, also known as the Goddess of women and marriage.

In ancient Rome, the lives of young girls and boys were kept very separate. On the evening of February 14th, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each man would draw a girl's name to be his partner for the duration of the Lupercalia festival (begining February 15th). The pairing of the children could last an entire year, they would often fall in love and would later marry.

Emperor Claudius II cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome, believing the reason for men not wanting to join his military was due to love and families. Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome in the days of Claudius II. Valentine and Saint Marius secretly married couples, but for this kindness, St Valentine was condemned to be beaten to death and have his head cut off on 14th February, approximately year A.D. 270.

In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius outlawed the Lupercian festival, but retained the lottery. However, instead of names of women in the box there were the names of saints, both men and women chose a slip and for the next year they were expected to imitate the life of the saint they chose. As time progressed, more and more Romans replaced the Lupercian festival with St Valentines Day.

The new style lottery did not last long, instead young men started a custom of offering women they admired and wished to court a handwritten letter of affection on February 14, these later became known as Valentine's Day Cards.

Answer 7

Not sure if you will find a source of authority, let alone a single origin, for this one.

www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/valentines...

Happy reading...

Answer 8

http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/history_of_valentine.htm

Answer 9

Put a search in yahoo.Good Luck

Answer 10

One day some a--s--s--clown decided that he was going to impress some woman and then everybody decided to copy him.