February 14 is celebrated by many a romantic couple and embraced by many a flower, card, and jewelry company. But who was St. Valentine? Patron saint of love? Patron saint of giving romance? Patron saint of buying and giving overpriced flowers, cards, and jewelry?
First, one has to figure out who he was, and the odd thing is that there is more than one. There are some disputes as to how many, but for sure there are two: Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni. Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred around 269 AD and buried in Via Flaminia. Valentine of Terni became Bishop of Interamna around 197 AD and was martyred under Emperor Aurelian.
The Catholic Encyclopedia mentions a third Valentine who was martyred in Africa on February 14, but there aren't hardly any historical mentions of this third one.
Romance was not a part of St. Valentine (any of them) before the 14th Century. It was after this time that romance began to creep into the St. Valentine story, but by then, memories of differing St. Valentines had been forgotten, and only just one St. Valentine was remembered.
In Legenda Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine (compiled in 1260), the story of St. Valentine was first written. According to this version, Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Emporer Claudius II. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a conversation with him, attempting to turn him to Roman paganism, but Valentine equally tried to convert Claudius to Christianity, which infurriated Claudius and caused Valentine to be executed. Before he was executed, he was jailed and healed the blind daughter of his jailer.
Since that time, in the modern times the St. Valentine lore has been broadened to include a story that includes a little more basis of love. Claudius II put in place a law requiring that men do not marry, because he felt that married men make weak soldiers. The priest Valentine broke the law by secretly performing marriages for young men. And when Claudius found out, he had Valentine thrown in jail.
The most recent story about Valentine deals with his own love. The story goes that on the night he was to be executed, he wrote the first valentine card to someone sometimes named his "beloved", to the daughter of the jailer (the girl he'd healed), or both (being the same person). This note was "from your Valentine". This story, however, has absolutely no historical basis whatsoever, and is most likely just a modern tale for cards.
Either way, when you think of February 14 as Valentine's Day, don't forget the men who the day was formed after, who really had nothing to do with romance. Sorry to break your hearts!
Bet you didn't know that!
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