♥ Valentine's Day History ♥

   St. Valentine's Day origins are hard to pin down. The festivity part of the day possibly goes back to Roman times with the holiday of Lupercalia. This festival celebrated life, fertility, and a good vintage drink! The start of the party began at the cave in which Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were parented by a powerful she-wolf. During the festivities women would place their names in an urn of which all the eligible bachelors would pick from. These couples would be paired to care for one another for a year. After the year, most continued into their future marriage.

The St. Valentine's Day namesake comes from as you might have guessed - St. Valentine. But which one? There are 3! It is probably a mixture of the three. Each has a legend worthy of sainthood. The legends speak of a priest who would illegally marry soldiers and their lovers in secret against the King's decree, another legend a saint is protecting believers escaping Roman prisons, and the final St. Valentine is said to have sent the first "valentine" letter to his love when he was imprisoned for good deeds.

Unique Fact: A poem sent from Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London is the oldest still existing valentine!

During the 18th century, it was commonplace to gift letters and jewelry to celebrate in February. It was considered the mating month of "love birds" and a poem by Chaucer - "Parliament of Foules" - declared Valentine's Day to be our modern joyous day of romance. Valentine's Day is an amalgamation of all these unique tales, romances, and traditions that deserve to be honored. Celebrate this holiday of flirtation and courtship with an MKJ piece they'll never forget. Amore!