Love Your Food
A 21ST CENTURY VALENTINES
The first Valentine’s Day was in 496 AD; it is thought to have originated partly from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia, which was also in mid-February and marked the start of their spring season. It’s also rumoured that St. Valentine himself was a priest in Rome in the third century AD – after the Emperor Claudius II banned marriage (because he thought married men were lesser soldiers), St. Valentine offered to marry people in secret. Unfortunately, the emperor found out and sentenced Valentine to death. Whilst in prison, awaiting execution, Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter; he sent her a love letter on the day of his death, 14th February, signed ‘from your Valentine’, and, after merging this with the traditions of Lupercalia, Valentine’s Day was born.