Handmade Luxury Valentine Chocolates + Rumsey's Recipe - Things To Do Va...

https://www.rumseys.co.uk/blogs/news/things-to-do-valentines-day-2021-lockdown-handmade-chocolates

Around the world chocolates, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from?
The history of Valentine’s Day remains somewhat of a mystery. We know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance and that St. Valentine’s Day, as it is known today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this tradition?
It seems that the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, therefore he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realising the injustice of this, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Still, others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of this celebration of love and romance. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.