Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Valentine's Day. The day of spreading love, the color pink, candy, the color red, and dental hell. But how exactly did such a strange holiday begin? Valentine's Day started, in Rome, with Saint Valentine, but no one knows just who St. Valentine is, or what he exactly did. One theory is in 3rd century AD Rome when emperor Claudius II -- also known as Caesar Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius Pius Felix Invictus Augustus Pontifex Maximus Germanicus Maximus Gothicus Maximus -- decided that unmarried men make better soldiers, so he banned marriage for young men and Valentine (or possibly Valentinus) ignored the emperor's wish and continued to marry young couples in secret. St. Valentine don't care! Unfortunately, when Valentine was discovered doing this, he was imprisoned. There, he aided young Christians, and even converted 46 family members of a guard to Christianity! Another theory takes place in much older times, when Valentine (a different one) was killed for attempting to help Christians escape from the harsh Roman dungeons. During his confinement, he was visited by a woman, who was possibly his jailor's daughter, whom he fell in love with. Before his death, he wrote a final letter to the woman signed "from your Valentine", an expression used to this day. Although it is more centered to love and romance, a child would most likely think of all the candy they'll get, even though sending candy is not required. You could just send a card and possibly be fine. Valentine's Day is also basically the only holiday besides Halloween where candy store shelves look like this... What about the parts of a department store that sells candy or something? SHUT UP, NAÏVE STICK FIGURE! THAT WAS A REALLY CLEAR POINT! Anyway, back to the history of the holiday. In the High Middle Ages, the day was associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer, but is nowadays associated with basically just love in general. Traditionally, you would send someone a greeting card, and maybe tape some candy on the piece of paper or card. Why just that? BECAUSE ST. VALENTINE DON'T CARE! But if you're sending it to that certain someone, you may want to send a heart-shaped box of chocolates, or even plant genitalia, oh, sorry, I meant flowers, which are used to symbolize fertility. That doesn't work for every woman, though. Wait a minute, am I giving romantic advice to people?! QUICK! DO SOMETHING! END THE VIDEO! Okay, I know Valentine's Day already happened, but St. Valentine don't care! Anyway, please make sure to also show your love for the Romans for giving us this holiday, and also for us for giving you this video! Happy Romantine's Day!
B2 US valentine valentine day maximus holiday day claudius The Story of Valentine's Day 568 18 Wayne Lin posted on 2015/02/14 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary