Every year in early February, I give my talk "St Valentine - from Martyr to Lover" to a number of groups. It tends to go down well and is filled with all sorts of historical snippets about St Valentine himself and the way his cult as patron saint of lovers has grown and changed over the centuries.
Along the way we take in the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, the medieval obsession with holy relics and the power of American commercialisation in the modern world. As well as chocolates, some pretty awful poetry and a Chinese cowherd.
This year, I have had to update the talk in light of the Covid Restrictions. So, while I am desperate for Boris to ease lockdown and allow us to get back to our basic human freedoms, I'm rather hoping he won't do so until after 14th February. Or I'll have to rewrite this talk all over again.
St Valentine is just one of several seasonal talks in my repertoire. I also have on offer:
The Real St Patrick [March] [Zoom Friendly]
The Real St George [April] [Zoom Friendly]
Who was Guy Fawkes? [November] [Zoom Friendly]
A History of Christmas Foods [December]
The Biography of Father Christmas [December] [Zoom Friendly]
So, if you are looking for speaker in March, April, November or December and want a cracking seasonal talk to get your audience buzzing, drop me a line on rupert@rupertmatthews.com or through Twitter or Facebook at @HistoryRupert.
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