Valentine’s identity is uncertain due to various myths and legends. February 14th was associated with love in the 14th century. The Roman Catholic Martyrology lists seven Valentines, but three are likely candidates for Valentine’s Day. Two were Christians martyred on February 14th, and their stories are similar, suggesting they may be the same person. Valentine’s Day may have been invented by the Church to replace Lupercalia. The lack of information about Valentine’s life supports this theory, but it’s possible that records were lost or destroyed.
There are a number of contenders for the title of Valentine, along with a huge assortment of myths and legends that make it even more difficult to determine who Valentine was and what he did during his lifetime. People curious about the connection between a martyr and a holiday dedicated to romantic love may take note of the fact that February 14th was only associated with love in the 14th century, when the concept of courtly love was flourishing. Notably, many of the stories linking Valentine’s Day and love also date from this period.
The Roman Catholic Martyrology lists a total of seven Valentines. Of these seven, three are likely candidates for the Valentine’s Day associated with February 14, but very little is known about them. Their contemporaries have not written very extensively about them, and two of the men may actually be the same man, judging by the similarities between their stories.
One of the candidates is known to have lived and been martyred in Africa, but nothing else is known about him. The other two were both Christians who lived in the third century. One is described as a Roman priest, the other as a bishop from central Italy. The priest allegedly tried to convert the emperor to Christianity, and also held secret Christian services and aided his fellow Christians. For his troubles he was sentenced to death. This Valentine was first beaten by a mob and then beheaded. In the 14th story, legends of secret marriages began to be associated with this Valentine, although no contemporary evidence supports these stories.
The bishop worked in the care of the sick, and was also sentenced to death for his Christian ministry. Curiously, accounts of his martyrdom describe him first being beaten by a mob and then beheaded. The parallels between the priest and the bishop would seem to strongly suggest that the two may have actually been just one person. They were certainly never recorded in the same place at one time, which is a strong indicator, and the fact that both were martyred on February 14th is rather suspicious. They would also be buried in the same place, the Via Flaminia.
Some people have suggested that Valentine’s Day may be an entirely invented figure, developed by the Church to distract people from the normal raucous processes of Lupercalia, a Roman holiday that took place on February 15th. The practice of adapting older feasts was by no means uncommon in the early Church, as it was used as a technique to encourage converts by allowing them to celebrate in family feasts. The scant information about Valentine’s life certainly supports this view, but on the other hand, Christians suffered severe oppression under Roman rule, and it is entirely possible that the record of the man’s life was lost or destroyed.
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