Pic of the Week: Valentines Day: 14th February 2019

St Valentine’s Day is said to have originated to commemorate the martyrdom of Valentinus at the hands of Claudius on 14th February, and to be celebrated from 496AD.

Going even further back, the Romans celebrated the beginning of Spring in the middle of February with ‘Lupercalia’, a pagan festival. This was abolished by the Pope, who then decreed that the Festival should be a Saints day instead, and renamed it St Valentine’s Day.

The connection between St Valentine’s Day and romance, was the handiwork of the poet, Chaucer, during the Middle Ages.

We will end with a Valentine’s Day quote from W M Thackeray:
“It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.”