For an occasion that celebrates romantic love with the giving of chocolates and roses, Valentine’s Day has surprisingly grisly origins.
The day is named after a Christian priest, Valentinus, who lived in the late third century AD and was beheaded on the orders of the pagan Roman emperor Claudius II on 14 February, a date subsequently commemorated by Christians as his feast day. But how did this bloody tale transform into a celebration of love?
The two Saint Valentines
The fullest accounts of the martyrdom of Saint Valentine can be found in early medieval texts, which reveal there were two Christian martyrs with that name.
The first tale, written down by the sixth century AD, concerns a priest based in Rome who cured the blindness of an official’s daughter. The official was so grateful to Valentinus that he and his household asked to be baptised. Furious, the emperor Claudius had the priest beaten and beheaded on the Via Flaminia (a major road heading north out of Rome) on 14 February. A woman named Savilla buried Valentinus’ corpse at the site of his execution.
The second version, attested in the eighth century AD, focuses on Valentinus, the bishop of Terni, a town in Umbria. Valentinus was summoned to Rome to help a student whose head had been stuck between his knees for three years. The bishop cured the student, which led to his father, a famous orator, converting to Christianity. Valentinus was arrested by the prefect of Rome, who ordered him to sacrifice to the pagan gods; when the bishop refused, he was beheaded, and his body was buried outside Terni.
The similarities between the two stories are obvious, and it may be that these miracle tales were originally told of the same individual, but then over time both Rome and Terni claimed Valentinus as their own saint.
The history behind the legend
Was either Saint Valentine a real historical figure? Although Claudius II is not known to have persecuted Christians, several other rulers of the third and early fourth centuries certainly did. The executions at the hands of Roman authorities lived long in the memory of Christians, who told stories of these martyrdoms to inspire future generations.
This gave rise to an entirely new genre of writing known as ‘hagiography’, or writing about saints. Some hagiographies give accurate reports of the lives of historical figures, while others blend fact with fiction or are entirely invented. Even if Valentinus was not a real priest, his stories, and those of countless other martyrs, reflect how Christians conceptualised their past under pagan Roman emperors.
Christians had begun to commemorate Valentinus by the mid-fourth century AD, when Julius I, bishop of Rome, built a church in his honour at the second mile of the Via Flaminia. A few decades later, another bishop, Damasus, composed a poem in Valentinus’ honour. It was inscribed on stone and unfortunately only a few fragments survive today.
The cult of Saint Valentine saw renewed interest in the seventh century AD, when three popes— Honorius I, Theodore I, and Benedict II—are said to have rebuilt, restored, or donated to his church. Early medieval texts show it became a popular stop for pilgrims travelling to Rome.
But Terni was not to be outdone. A church in honour of Saint Valentine was erected to the south of the town, at the sixty-fourth mile of the Via Flaminia, by the eighth century. The result has been endless decades of confusion about who—if anyone—was the real Saint Valentine.
There is no association between Saint Valentine and romantic love in the Roman hagiographical tradition. The connection dates back to the poem Parlement of Foules, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century. Since medieval English calendars record the beginning of Spring in February, Chaucer evidently thought Saint Valentine’s Day an appropriate setting for his poem, which features birds gathering together to select their mates (‘makes’ in Middle English) after the long Winter.
For this was on seynt Valentynes day, Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make
Chaucer, Parlement of Foules, lines 309-310 (ed. Walter Skeat)
Within a hundred years of Chaucer, Saint Valentine’s Day was well established in both England and France as a romantic occasion which required the exchange of love poems. By the eighteenth century, people had started to invent connections between the idea of love and the Christian priest, some even supposing that he had been a matchmaker for Roman couples.
This new way of celebrating Saint Valentine—and the commercial industry which surrounds the occasion today— would have puzzled the ancient Christians, for whom it was a day to honour a man who died courageously for his faith. But the many love letters and poems that survive from the Roman world show that we still have one thing in common. When it comes to expressions of romantic love, there is nothing better than a few well-chosen words, written from the heart.
Top image: Eberhard Grossgasteiger/Unsplash
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Associate Professor Caillan DavenportANU School of Literature, Languages and LinguisticsCaillan Davenport is Associate Professor of Classics and Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at ANU.
The day is named after a Christian priest, Valentinus, who lived in the late third century AD and was beheaded on the orders of the pagan Roman emperor Claudius II
Claudius II
Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – August/September 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Claudius_Gothicus
One Valentine was a priest in third-century Rome who defied Emperor Claudius II after the ruler outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine would perform marriages in secret for young lovers, ultimately leading to his death.
The Roman Emperor imprisoned Valentine for his insolence and later beheaded him on February 14 for refusing to forsake his faith, thus making him a “saint” for his martyrdom. A legend surrounding a different (or the same?) Valentine weaves a love story between Valentine and his jailer's blind daughter, Julia.
According to some accounts, Claudius outlawed marriage for young men, prompting Valentine to marry young lovers in secret, The History Channel writes. When his actions were revealed to the emperor, Claudius had him killed.
The Catholic Encyclopedia and other hagiographical sources speak of three Saints Valentine that appear in connection with February 14. One was a Roman priest, another the bishop of Interamna (modern Terni, Italy) both buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city.
1 John 4:7-12. Dear friends: let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a major festival on the Roman calendar and was commemorated every year on February 15. It was held in honour of the gods Faunus and Lupercus, the gods of agriculture and fertility. It also honoured the mythological founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
The day is named after a Christian priest, Valentinus, who lived in the late third century AD and was beheaded on the orders of the pagan Roman emperor Claudius II on 14 February, a date subsequently commemorated by Christians as his feast day. But how did this bloody tale transform into a celebration of love?
In another story, St.Valentine wrote the first “Valentine” greeting to a young girl he tutored and fell in love with while he was imprisoned for the crime of officiating soldiers' weddings. According to The History Channel, before dying, he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” which is often used today.
While the date is meant to honor Saint Valentine's death and burial, which supposedly occurred in mid-February around 270 AD, some historians believe the date could reflect the Catholic Church's attempt to replace the ancient Pagan celebration of Lupercalia — a fertility festival for the pagan agricultural god Faunus — ...
Valentine's Day Massacre. On February 14, 1929, seven members and associates of George “Bugs” Moran's bootlegging gang were lined up against a wall and shot dead inside the garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Al Capone's Chicago Outfit was widely suspected of ordering the hit, but no one was ever prosecuted.
Al Capone, who was at his Florida home at the time, was widely assumed to have been responsible for ordering the massacre. The impetus for the plan may have been the North Side Gang's hijacking of some expensive whisky being illegally smuggled by Capone's gang from Canada across the Detroit River.
Whatever the reason, Saint Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year 270. It is said that prior to his execution, St Valentine had cured the blindness of his jailor's daughter and his final act was to write her a love message signed 'from your valentine'.
Although the Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize St. Valentine as a saint of the church, he was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 because of the lack of reliable information about him. He is the patron saint of lovers, people with epilepsy, and beekeepers.
Turns out, it was a pretty common name during Late Antiquity. As far as anyone can tell, the Saint Valentine of Valentine's Day was one of two guys preaching the good word in Rome in the third century. One of these two was martyred on February 14th 269, thus giving us the date for his eponymous day.
One Saint Valentine was supposedly a Roman priest who performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities in the third century. Imprisoned in the home of a noble, he healed his captor's blind daughter, causing the whole household to convert to Christianity and sealing his fate.
Some believe Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 because that is when Saint Valentine was killed or buried. Others claim the date has to do with the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia, which was a days-long celebration that would start on February 13 and end on February 15.
Although the stories behind Saint Valentine are a bit vague, some legends say that he was a Roman priest who defied Emperor Claudius II, who banned marriage so men would be more willing to go to war, by continuing to marry people in secret, which resulted in Saint Valentine's brutal execution.
One Saint Valentine was supposedly a Roman priest who performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities in the third century. Imprisoned in the home of a noble, he healed his captor's blind daughter, causing the whole household to convert to Christianity and sealing his fate.
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