As it is almost Valentine's Day, I will look into its history. (Half of the history is that Hallmark is a very evil company.) Why is it called Valentine's Day? Why do we send cards, and spend several million dollars on this day? We shall find out! (Also I was reading about this, and Valentines day is the second most card selling day of the year! I told you Hallmark was an evil company!)
Some places say that St. Valentine was a Roman. The emperor deemed that soldiers were better when they had no family. He banned young adults from getting married. Valentine thought this wrong, and married people in secret. He was caught and killed, but before getting killed he started "your Valentine," by writing a letter and signing it, "your Valentine."
In Rome the 15th of February was a festival where Roman priests went to a cave on the edge of the city. There they sacrificed a dog and goat, and dipped pieces of goat hide in the blood. The men then took the strips of hide and went to the town and hit all the women with them. The women all went into the street trying to get hit, because it was said to increase fertility. Also the men hit the fields of crops with them as they were said to produce more when hit. Also the unmarried men put all the unmarried womens names in a pot. Then each bachelor would take turns drawing names from the pot. Whoever's name was drawn from the pot was paired until the next festival, when they would draw another name unless they married each other. Valentine's Day may have been started by missionaries as a way to stop this festival.
In England they started Valentine's Day in the 17th century. They started with hand written notes. Then when the press was invented used printed notes. By the 1840s they were selling printed Valentine's in America. Did you know that 85% of cards sold are bought by women? Valentine's Day is on the calender in the US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia.
There you have it. Valentine was a marriage outlaw. Valentine's Day may have been started by missionaries to stop a pagan Roman festival. The holiday was popular in England in the 17th century, and America in the 19th. Hope you can use this sometime!
photo http://firenzegold.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/garden-of-red-roses.jpg
Some places say that St. Valentine was a Roman. The emperor deemed that soldiers were better when they had no family. He banned young adults from getting married. Valentine thought this wrong, and married people in secret. He was caught and killed, but before getting killed he started "your Valentine," by writing a letter and signing it, "your Valentine."
In Rome the 15th of February was a festival where Roman priests went to a cave on the edge of the city. There they sacrificed a dog and goat, and dipped pieces of goat hide in the blood. The men then took the strips of hide and went to the town and hit all the women with them. The women all went into the street trying to get hit, because it was said to increase fertility. Also the men hit the fields of crops with them as they were said to produce more when hit. Also the unmarried men put all the unmarried womens names in a pot. Then each bachelor would take turns drawing names from the pot. Whoever's name was drawn from the pot was paired until the next festival, when they would draw another name unless they married each other. Valentine's Day may have been started by missionaries as a way to stop this festival.
In England they started Valentine's Day in the 17th century. They started with hand written notes. Then when the press was invented used printed notes. By the 1840s they were selling printed Valentine's in America. Did you know that 85% of cards sold are bought by women? Valentine's Day is on the calender in the US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia.
There you have it. Valentine was a marriage outlaw. Valentine's Day may have been started by missionaries to stop a pagan Roman festival. The holiday was popular in England in the 17th century, and America in the 19th. Hope you can use this sometime!
photo http://firenzegold.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/garden-of-red-roses.jpg
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