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St Valentine's Day - February 14th Valentine ... the True Story
!!
February has long been a month of romance and,
although the history of Valentine's Day is shrouded in mystery,
the legend shows Valentine to be a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure...
The roots of St Valentine's
Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia - a pagan
festival of eroticism that honoured the goddess Juno Februata -
which was celebrated on February 15th.
Juno Februata was the goddess of the "fever" of
love, of women and of marriage, and one of the traditions of the
festival took
place on the day before - February 14th, known as the
Feast day. On this day, the young
men would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would
then keep the chosen woman as a sexual companion for the next 12
months!!
(Sounds good to me!! Bring back pagan festivals!!)
Unfortunately, early Christians were very dour folk and frowned upon these lascivious goings-on.
In
an attempt to curb the "hanky panky", the Christian clergy
persuaded the young men and women to substitute their names for
those of Saints, and for the next
twelve months they had to emulate the ideals
of the particular Saint they had chosen.
This
change was very, very, very disappointing to the young men (and
women)!! Not surprisingly, this version of Lupercalia soon
became
very unpopular and died a sudden death.
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The legend of Valentine came about
simply because the mighty Roman Empire needed thousands of soldiers
to maintain its power. The Emperor, Claudius ll, believed that
single men made better soldiers than those with wives and
families, so he decreed that his
soldiers should not marry and outlawed
marriage for all young men - his source of future soldiers.
Obviously he'd never heard the expression "make love, not war".
Valentine - who was a priest,
heard of this unjust and unfair decree and, defying Claudius, he continued to perform marriages in secret for
the young
lovers. When the nasty Emperor Claudius discovered what he was doing,
he imprisoned Valentine and sentenced him to
death. (What a rotter!!)
While languishing in prison awaiting his execution,
Valentine befriended his jailer - probably hoping to get the
keys from him! Anyway, legend has it that the jailer
had a blind daughter who used to visit Valentine regularly
during his confinement, bringing him victuals and the latest
score from the Coliseum.
During the course of these
visits Valentine fell
deeply in love with the young girl,
and she, bless her cotton socks, fell passionately in love with Valentine ...
Just before his execution on February 14th 270AD, he wrote her
a parting
letter, saying...
"..if you really loved me, you would have got
me out of here!!"
and which he signed ...
From your Valentine
... an expression that we still use today.
News of Valentine spread, and his name became
synonymous with Love and Cards of Endearment and, for some
inexplicable reason, chocolates, sexy lingerie, bouquets of
roses, expensive jewellery and romantic weekend breaks in Paris
and Rome....
Since all this
happened so long ago, records no longer exist. But if it didn't
happen this way, it certainly makes for a good story...
... a Warning from History ...
Legend has it that Charles, Duke of Orleans,
sent the first real Valentine card. This was to his wife, in 1415, while he
was imprisoned in the Tower of London - probably because he
forgot to send her flowers the year before !!
Charles died
nearly 50 years later still imprisoned in the Tower of London
...
The message is clear -
forget Valentines Day at your peril !!!
Why not surprise your partner with a
Romantic Weekend Break ......
Eurostar - offer the complete package break including Eurostar travel, hotels and car hire for the perfect getaway.
 CityBreakaways
- to Paris, Brugge, Brussels, Lille and more - all orders are taken and confirmed online.
Hilton is one of the leading hotel brands
in the world. Their diverse locations mean
there is a hotel for every occasion.
Ramada Jarvis - one of the UK's
largest hotel companies with over 55 hotels in 50 locations.
St Valentine's Day - February 14th
 Don't
forget the card !!!!
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