Saint Valentine’s Day is said to be named after one or more of the Christian Martyrs of Ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful). Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs.

Saint Valentine-Nuremberg Chronicle 1493

Claudius Gothicus, Emperor Claudius II

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle(1493). The text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. He Failed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer. Where the connection with sentimental love may have been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail and suffered the fate of many martyrs.

Christianity Remodels Pagan Festivals

English 18th century antiquarians, Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine’s identity, suggested that Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. In Pre-Roman times a very ancient pastoral festival was held between 13-15 February to keep away evil spirits, cleanse the city, revitalize and increase fertility. It is thought to have evolved from the Ancient Greek festival, Arcadia Lykaia, and worship of Pan, oft associated with sexuality.

The Pre-Roman Festival of Lupercalia.

New Legend of Saint Valentine

Many of the current legends that characterize Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love.

Portrait of Chaucer by Thomas Hoccleve in the Regiment of Princes (1412).

Enter the Messenger, Cupid

Cupid preparing his arrows of love...or pain?/“Psyche & Amor” (Psyche receiving Cupid’s First Kiss)

Enter Anonymous Valentine Cards

Leigh Eric Schmidt, “Graham’s American Monthly”, Esther Howland

The reinvention of Saint Valentine’s Day in the 1840s has been

traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt. As a writer in Graham’s American Monthly observed in 1849, “Saint Valentine’s Day… is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday.” In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. She was an artist and canny businesswoman.