Valentine's Day has many rumored beginnings with one of the most romantic (and believable) being that the holiday is named after Saint Valentine, a priest who lived in 3rd century Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decreed that marriage was outlawed because single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, Valentine defied the law and married young lovers in secret, until the day he was discovered, sentenced to death, and thrown into prison. There he met and fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter and because of their love her vision was restored. Then, as a final act of love before he was sent to his death Valentine wrote her a love note and signed it "From your Valentine."
A phrase that still stands today as an endearment of love.
That's the legend of how Valentine became a Saint, as for how the holiday got his name legend says it started when the Church sought to Christianize the pagan Lupercalia Festival the Romans performed every year in the middle of February. It was a celebration of springtime and fertility (among other things) and as part of it young men would randomly draw womens' names from an urn in order to be matched with them for the following year. The Church changed the rituals to eliminate the random sexual pairings and chose a new religious symbol to be honored, St Valentine, to replace the pagan gods and animal sacrifices. The concepts of romance and love remained, however, and many young men would use the time to seek out and attempt to woo their sweethearts.
So where did the idea of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day come from? From the moment chocolate was discovered it was considered valuable, divine, and decadent, so what better gift to give a woman? The first chocolate candies (as we know them today) were invented in the 1860s by Cadbury, who was also the first to market them in a heart-shaped box for Valentine's Day that same decade. I wonder if he knew at the time what a historic idea it would turn out to be.
http://www.luxist.com/2010/01/25/why-chocolate-for-valentines-day/
That's the legend of how Valentine became a Saint, as for how the holiday got his name legend says it started when the Church sought to Christianize the pagan Lupercalia Festival the Romans performed every year in the middle of February. It was a celebration of springtime and fertility (among other things) and as part of it young men would randomly draw womens' names from an urn in order to be matched with them for the following year. The Church changed the rituals to eliminate the random sexual pairings and chose a new religious symbol to be honored, St Valentine, to replace the pagan gods and animal sacrifices. The concepts of romance and love remained, however, and many young men would use the time to seek out and attempt to woo their sweethearts.
So where did the idea of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day come from? From the moment chocolate was discovered it was considered valuable, divine, and decadent, so what better gift to give a woman? The first chocolate candies (as we know them today) were invented in the 1860s by Cadbury, who was also the first to market them in a heart-shaped box for Valentine's Day that same decade. I wonder if he knew at the time what a historic idea it would turn out to be.
http://www.luxist.com/2010/01/25/why-chocolate-for-valentines-day/
No comments:
Post a Comment