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lumiereandcogsworth · 4 months

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okay I know it’s technically weeks away BUT valentine’s day has been in my mind and I’m curious how Adam and Belle celebrate 👁️ (did this holiday exist back then? I have no clue)

LOVELY okay so every valentine’s day since i’ve been writing for these two yahoos, i just generally assume they go all out for the day. adam’s love language is gift giving so whether it’s in canon or modern au, you know that guy is getting belle a million gifts and they’re going to fancy dining establishments and seeing a show and all that good stuff. but your question made me want to dig in and actually look into the history of valentine’s day, SO I DID THAT!!

as i suspected, it is super super old. the oldest story is in 270 AD, when the roman empire had been at war for some time. apparently the soldiers were tired of fighting and wanted to marry their sweethearts and settle down with families. but emperor claude ii was like uhhhmmm No. so he made marriage briefly illegal?? but there was a priest called valentine who was still secretly performing weddings, defying the law for love!!! but emperor claude ii found out and threw him in jail. BUT THEN valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard!!! and supposedly, according to the legend, right before his execution, ON FEBRUARY 14th, he left a heart-shaped letter to the daughter and signed it “from your valentine.”

AND THAT IS SOOOOO ROMANTIC HELLO!!!!! defied the law AND died for love. A KING!!

valentine was declared a saint by pope gelase i in the 5th century, after the collapse of the roman empire.

the holiday didn’t become a thing until the middle ages, when the catholic church was trying to fight a pagan holiday for the roman god luperculus that was celebrated feb 13-15. the church was afraid of losing their power amidst europe so the pope made feb 14 st. valentine’s day to honor the guy who sacrificed his life for love.

there is ALSO a story specific to france, that in 1415, the duke of orléans was captured and taken prisoner in london and while he was there he was apparently writing love letters to his wife in france. and i guess there was one (or multiple?) specifically dated for valentine’s day, so it’s considered some of the first Valentine’s Day Letters™️ in france. because before that, in france, letters weren’t really exchanged on the day, it was more a social thing, like a singles mixer in the streets. single people go out and try to pair up. and anyone who is bitter can have a little bonfire and burn images of their exes. but that got out of hand quickly and the government banned that. hence the letter writing became more common.

and this is my own speculation but i would assume that gift giving only took place amongst the upper class at first, and then eventually the trend caught up in varying levels for everyone to the point that we’re at today! where a gift for your beloved on the day is quite common 💝

but anyway there’s your little history lesson!!!!!! was fun to flex my historian muscles thank you 🤓🤓🤓

to answer your question, basically, adam spoils the heck out of his wife and belle lets it happen because she’s as head over heels for her husband as he is for her. in canon they’re probably always in paris. they save their bigger trips for their anniversary and also they just travel a lot in general for king & queen reasons. paris is their home away from home ❤️ they probably stay for nearly a week, (this may vary depending on the ages of their kiddos, of course, they don’t like to leave their Babies for too long 🥺), go to a couple different shows, opera, theater, dance, etc. go for horseback rides, go to a ball (i’m debating if they put on a valentine’s day ball or if they attend one already happening. it’s super likely that adam wants to host it though because he loves hosting. But i could also just see a ball already taking place since it is a Known Holiday. but EITHER WAY THEY’RE DANCING!), and yeah just in general they’re being super in love and gross. i enjoy thinking about this day for them in modern au too, just because it’s a tad easier for my mind to picture, but yeah it’s definitely a holiday they love. they love a day dedicated to love ❤️

also i wrote this last year, it’s short and QUITE lovey dovey, Of Course.

#me when i remember i majored in history 🥴#WHEW! what a rush #lmao thanks though. i knew it was old and wasn’t worried about them not knowing about it BUT it was super fine to get the DEETS #*FUN!#tis a well established Day of Love by the time we get to my babies 😌 THANK GOODNESS!#thank you king!!!#alex tag #answered #batb headcanons #adelle #batb 2017 #history

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