2008 Woodie Awards
Does the 14th ring a bell?
Celebrating Valentine's Day
Issue date: 2/11/05 Section: Features
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Ever wonder why?
Valentine's Day history courtesy of
http://www.theholidayspot.com
As early as the 4th century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite of passage to the God Lupercus.
The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged.
After 800 years of the practice, the early church fathers sought to end it.
They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred about 200 years earlier.
According to church tradition, St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about 270 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Claudius II had issued an edict forbidding marriage.
It was when the heyday of the Roman empire was coming to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife.
Learning declined, taxation increased and trade slumped to a low, precarious level. And the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asia increased their pressure on the empire's boundaries.
The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus, more capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers.
When Claudius became emperor, he thought married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, would not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, a bishop, seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers" and had him arrested.
The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods to save him from certain execution.
Valentine refused to recognize Roman gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully.
Valentine's Day history courtesy of
http://www.theholidayspot.com
As early as the 4th century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite of passage to the God Lupercus.
The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged.
After 800 years of the practice, the early church fathers sought to end it.
They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred about 200 years earlier.
According to church tradition, St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about 270 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Claudius II had issued an edict forbidding marriage.
It was when the heyday of the Roman empire was coming to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife.
Learning declined, taxation increased and trade slumped to a low, precarious level. And the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asia increased their pressure on the empire's boundaries.
The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus, more capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers.
When Claudius became emperor, he thought married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, would not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, a bishop, seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers" and had him arrested.
The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods to save him from certain execution.
Valentine refused to recognize Roman gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully.