Who was Valentin? 

Saint Valentine may have looked much like the picture, which is a facial reconstruction.

According to one of the myths about him, he was punished with death for secretly marrying a couple - against the will of the emperor.

Photo: Cicero Moraes / Wikimedia / Jessica Gow / TT

The stories behind Valentine's Day are many and have differed depending on when in time they arose.

But they have one thing in common: Saint Valentin, sometimes Valentinus.

As with all legends about saints, it is difficult to say exactly what is true and not about Saint Valentine.

According to one of the most popular stories, he was a martyr who was killed by the Roman emperor Claudius II in the late 200s.

The reason was that the emperor forbade marriage and came to Valentin to arrange Christian weddings in secret.

In later stories, he is also said to have helped his prison guard's daughter regain her sight. 

According to a legend, he wrote a farewell letter to the prison guard's daughter, which he ended with "your Valentine" before he was killed, which serves as a background for the Valentine cards. 

Why do we celebrate February 14?

In medieval Britain, it was believed that birds formed pairs on 14 February.

Photo: tatyana Zenkovich / EPA / TT

Within the Roman Catholic Church, the day of remembrance of Saint Valentine has been celebrated since the 490s.

Before Valentine's Day, a pagan fertility festival, Lupercalia, was held in Rome in mid-February, and the Catholic Church is believed to have chosen a date that coincided with the festival.

Since 1969, however, the saint is no longer officially celebrated in the church.

It was during the Middle Ages in Britain and France that the celebration began to take the romantic form we recognize today.

February 14 was considered to be the day when birds formed pairs and the young people of the villages therefore formed pairs at play on Valentine's Day.

During the 15th century, the first Valentine cards also began to appear.

Two penguins fight over a Valentine's card at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Photo: Jeff Chiu / AP / TT

The tradition was not rooted in the United States until the 1840s, when paper merchants began placing advertisements for Valentine's cards in newspapers.

Since then, the growth has been driven mainly by commercial actors, something that received criticism already during the festival's first strong year, writes Times.

When did the holiday come to Sweden?

Valentine's Day came to Sweden through trade and the holiday has been criticized for being too commercial, yet many people like to buy a small gift for someone they love.

Today it does not have to be about romantic love, you can also show your appreciation to friends and family in different ways.

Photo: Claudio Bresciani / TT

The way into Sweden also went through trade, which is still clearly noticeable when you look at the sales of not least roses, which are bought in record quantities in the days around 14 February.

As early as 1956, Nordiska Kompaniet used Valentine's Day in its marketing - but then on the day of the shooting.

In an ad in Svenska Dagbladet, they urge ladies to "court their favorite cavaliers" with a gift.  

The celebration on 14 February did not make a big impact until 1985, when Valentine's Day began to be written into the Swedish calendars, and in several schools the holiday was celebrated, for example, by the students giving each other cards or flowers.

Nowadays, the day has very little to do with its religious background, and is more an import of the American version of "Valentine's day".