Valentine’s day is one of the most popular holidays we celebrate in our modern society. We send cards, exchange small gifts, confess crushes, etc. One may not know the history of the holiday. This article will explain just that.

One event that inspired our current holiday is the “Love Lottery”, which involved men drawing a woman’s name from a jar and forcing them to couple up for the day. Sometimes, though, the matchup was actually good and they would remain a couple. However, the origin of this holiday really centers around one specific man: Saint Valentine.

Around 270 A.D, the new Roman leader by the name of Claudius II decides that all of his soldiers can focus more on their duty if they’re unwed, so he makes a law saying all soldiers must not be married. One soldier, by the name of Valentine, was not very fond of this rule, and as a priest of his church, he helped secretly marry young couples. Eventually, he was caught and sentenced to death. One of the last things he did before his execution was write a letter to the daughter of one of his close friends signing the last few words “from your Valentine”, inspiring the saying so often seen on cards today.

As time went on, the legend of Saint Valentine spread through Europe and his name was often associated with love and marriage. Today, the holiday is still widely celebrated across the world and although the customs differ from country to continent, the theme of love remains, the same theme provided by Saint Valentine.