The fourteenth day of February is a each year holiday that celebrates love among house members, friends, and romantic partners since at least as early the Middle Ages. This holiday today is often linked with lovers sharing romantic symbols of their devotion such as flowers, chocolates and cards that are regularly known as valentines. Where did Valentine's Day and its traditions come from?
Most habitancy can tell you that Valentine's Day commemorates the Roman Catholic Saint Valentine, but looking back in history there were two or maybe three Saint Valentines of whom minute is known linked with a February date. Some will say that we have Geoffrey Chaucer to thank for first linking romantic love with Valentine's Day in the year 1382. He wrote a poem "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate" to commemorate the engagement of King Richard the Second of England to his bride. The only complication with this tradition is that February is a bit early for birds in England to be selecting their mates and the actual date of King Richard's engagement was in May. In any case, as the western cultural idea of romantic love grew in the late Middle Ages, so did the increase of Valentine's Day and romantic gift giving linked with the holiday.
Perhaps the oldest and most primary gift to give on the day is sentimental poetry or prose addressed to the object of affection. eventually out of this tradition grew the valentine card as we know it. It was in the 19th century when handwritten cards began to come to be a thing of the past and very construe greeting cards with perfect lace and ribbons became beloved for a time. Typical symbols for the valentine card are the ever beloved heart, romantic white doves and that cute and chubby winged Cupid just ready to attack the hearts of the unsuspecting. Nowadays the greeting cards you see at the store have come to be the way to go, but who could pass up a lovely handwritten love letter from someone they care about?
