This is week three of our festivities, and we still have more to share with many offerings from Champagne Book authors and even more GIVE AWAYS.
Anyone who joins the Champagne Book Blog today will receive a free e-book! If you leave a comment you'll be part of today's drawing for a free e-book. If you let a friend know about our blog and they join the blog today, you'll both be entered into the end of the month drawing for two print books, an e-book and a surprise gift.
Today, Allison Knight presents the perfect blog for this day of Hearts and Flowers, and she will be giving away a copy of ROSES FOR MY LADY. Just leave a comment and be entered into today's drawing!
WHERE ON EARTH DID VALENTINE'S DAY COME FROM?
There are all kinds of legends about Valentine's Day, why it started, when and how. Some predate the celebration of that day to early pagan times. But, calling it Valentine Day originated from a priest who was martyred during the reign Claudius of Rome. Valentine was a Christian priest, and it is said the emperor Claudius didn't want married men in his army. Valentine defied the emperor and married couple anyway, army or not. After Valentine tried to convert the emperor to Christianity and failed, he was martyred. In 469 AD, February 14th was set aside as the day to honor his death.
So, why is this the day to declare your love or exchange notes announcing your undying devotion? Well it seems the night before he was killed, Valentine wrote to the jailer's daughter, a young girl who had befriended him, and signed his message, "In love, Valentine". But the practice of exchanging love messages on the day itself, really didn't start until the end of the middle ages. The Duke of Orleans, an important French Duke, claims the title of sender of the first Valentine. He was lock up in the Tower of London, after he fought the English - and lost. The Duke thought himself quite a poet, and the story goes, he sent his wife a love poem on February 14th while he was imprisoned.
This is why legends are just that, legends. True, the Duke of Orleans wrote poetry, lots of it. True he married a couple of times but his first wife died three years after the marriage, long before he fought the English. True he was locked up in the Tower of London as well as a lot of other places while France tried to gather the ransom demanded by the English king. However, was he married at the time he was imprisoned and did he indeed send a love note to his wife on February 14th? The actual recorded time line of his life makes you wonder, because there's no recorded marriage at the time he supposedly sent that poem. However, he is credited with sending the first Valentine. You decide.
And since that time Valentines of all sizes and shapes have declared a forever kind of love to one's sweetheart. I couldn't resist using a Valentine which ends up in the wrong hands as a basis for "Roses for my Lady."
Let me wish you all a happy Valentine's Day.
~*~
See another excerpt from Allison's ROSES FOR MY LADY on February 20!
www.AllisonKnight.com
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What sweet history! I learned something new about one of my favorite holidays!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that interesting information, Allison - can't wait to read Roses For My Lady
ReplyDeleteThanks for the background info on Valentines Day....I've never really thought about the background of the holiday and just creditted Hallmark with the event.....lol
ReplyDeleteAs always, your posts are great. Never knew any of this about Valentine's Day, like Maria, thought it was the invention of the card companies. Thank you so much for sharing.
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