Where does Valentine's Day come from? If today Valentine's Day rhymes with flowers, glass of wine and chocolate in love by the fireside, it has not always been the case!
And this year, you can impress your significant other by telling them about the origins of Valentine's Day.
Ancient Rome
Indeed, Valentine's Day has its origins in Ancient Rome, February 14 was the feast of Lupercalia, paying homage to the ancient God Lupercus sanctuary on the Palatine Hill not far from the cave where the Wolf fed Romulus and Remus. This festival then celebrated fertility and purification, to make crops, herds and Roman women prosper. But at the time romanticism was not really associated with this date. Indeed, goats and goats were sacrificed in front of the cave. Following this, a purifying race was organized by the nobles, who dressed themselves in sacrificed skins and then flogged the young women with strips of skin in order to make them fertile and ensure better childbirth. But fortunately this festival no longer exists since the 5th Century, when Pope Gelasius put an end to it! This pagan holiday then becomes a much wiser Christian holiday.
Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages the notion of love was associated with this date, the day when the birds mate, the fine weather returns and the end of winter is felt. It was then customary to exchange love letters and sign “Your Valentine”. If this custom was rather widespread in the Anglo-Saxon countries, it ended up arriving in Europe thanks to the Knight Othon de Grandson, and subsequently to the court of France by Charles d'Orléans in the 15th century.
Other legends tell that Saint Valentine would have its origin from a martyr of the Catholic Church named Valentinus. Roman Emperor Claudius II reportedly banned marriages, saying single, childless men made better soldiers. Valentinus, scandalized by this injustice, then decided to secretly marry the lovers. The emperor, furious on hearing the news, will have him executed.
Today
All these dark stories are no longer associated with this special day. Today, lovers continue to send each other sweet words, as in the Middle Ages, to express all the love that their loved one inspires in them. If sometimes you might think that this holiday has become commercial, remember that some gestures do not cost anything. So don't hesitate to spread and give love around you, it's always nice to receive.
Tonight February 14, we take the candles out of the closet, we wear something in which we feel good (sexy or not) and we take advantage of his or her dear and tender.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone
Your dear and tender Atelier Amour team
