By: Andrea Schuch
This blog posts seems like it should scream love due to its proximity to Valentine’s Day. So I thought we would dig in to exactly what it would be like living in St. Valentine’s era. But first, let’s divulge into exactly who is St. Valentine. This seems much more obscure than I thought. Apparently, according to such sources as Wikipedia and the History Channel, there were several guys in the early AD times all named Valentine, all who were killed for their Christian beliefs. The main Valentine (thought to be beheaded or buried on February 14th, 278 AD, was supposedly jailed for marrying young couples secretly after Roman Emperor Claudius banned marriage for the young. Valentine supposedly fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and wrote her a farewell card (the first Valentine’s Day card?) and signed it ‘from your Valentine.’ Valentine’s Day was officially removed from the Catholic calendar in 1969 due to the lack of information on how many Valentine’s there were or which one was the right one to be celebrating. There are more theories linking the Catholic Church to Valentine’s Day but I think we get the gist of it.
Now, on with the fun stuff! What would St. Valentine have seen during his days?
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| Crushed madder dye and yarns produced from it |
Mostly likely, fabrics would have been primarily wool due to it having an easier weaving process than cotton, hemp, linen or silk – although these may have been used as well. The main colors of dyes available would have been blue from indigo (see our previous post on how blue dye is made), various reds from Haustellum brandaris or madder and yellow from saffron – clearly many fewer colors than we have today due to synthetic dyes that we have perfected.
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| An apartment type building as seen today from this time period |
Buildings were primarily made out of stone as shown in this current photo of an apartment building dated back to the third century and picture of the Colosseum from the first century. Stone was readily available, and thus artwork was often crafted out of stone in the form of statues or busts. Artwork generally showcased limited furnishings, focusing on people and still lifes instead. Upholstered furniture was reserved for the wealthy, who often also owned large villas in the countryside along with all the servants to work in them. Homes of the wealthy generally were built out of stone, similar to a brick house today except their would be an atrium in the center and the only windows would be facing the atrium. Glass was used in the window which has paved the way for modern civilization’s use of glass in homes. Romans during this time had murals of still lifes or mythological figures painted on their walls and mosaics unlike the commoner. Although much of what remains of this time period is glassware like this one, stone pieces and metal formed for coins or jewelry
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| A typical house layout showing the center atrium. |
As for this current Valentine's Day, I'll be picking up some chocolate covered strawberries from my favorite local chocolate shop Morke's Chocolates in Palatine. But - shhhh! Don't tell my husband, just in case they're all gone before I get home!
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