Valentine's Day has lots of shaggy dog stories around its origins, but I think the most romantic ones go back to the Roman Empire during the reign of Claudius II, in 270 AD.
What did the Romans ever do for us
Claudius didn't want his legionnaires getting distracted by women and girlfriends during times of war, his premise being that single men were braver fighters.
However, his Bishop Valentine didn’t think you should control love that way and being a romantic at heart he rebelled against Claudius' decree and started to secretly conduct wedding ceremonies for soldiers.
Eventually, Valentine’s clandestine activities came to light and he got caught, was thrown in jail and executed on February 14.
The narrative goes on to tell us that Valentine wrote a note to the jailor's daughter signing it, "From your Valentine." Do you think it will catch on?
in medieval times Women and girls used to eat all kinds of weird and strange foods on Valentine's Day hoping to dream of their future partner.
Men and women would draw names out of a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They then would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one week for everyone to see.
Hence the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve."
Eventually, Valentine’s Day become official in 1537, when King Henry VII. officially declared it to be celebrated on February 14th.
Chocolate and valentine’s
Almost Half of us in Britain and about two-thirds of Americans plan to enjoy chocolate this Valentine's
But In Japan, they take it one step further by separating the occasion by gender and colour (pink)Valentine’s Day is on the 14th of February when men give women gifts and ‘White Day’ is a month later when the girls reciprocate!
The chocolate link to love isn’t a new thing.
Montezuma drank 50 goblets of chocolate for strength, but he did have 100 wives!
Casanova, known as "The World's Greatest Lover," attributes his prowess to the fact he took chocolate daily.
In the 1800's french medics would prescribe chocolate to ladies with broken hearts.
Chocolate was widely used in Catholic countries after 1569 when Pope Pius V declared that Chocolate (the drink) didn’t break the lent fast -- despite the hearty nutritional aspects of Chocolate. Every Pope for 190 years after him, from Gregory XIII to Benedict XIV affirmed this decision
Richard Cadbury produced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in the late 1860s.
More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day.
Why not enter into the X zone by making wonderful chocolate truffles together with your partner? Book an online class now