What’s in a name? Shakespeare once proposed this question in his famous play that has long been regarded as one of the greatest love stories (it isn’t really, but that’s a tale for another time). His character Juliet inquired, and for most of us the answer we’d give her is the same: not a whole lot. The majority of the people you pass on your daily commute to work don’t have much going for them. They may have their name on some think piece floating around the internet, have a YouTube video from high school that went viral, or even have a grandpa who invented something famous that makes you pause and think: “that name sounds familiar” when they introduce themselves. You can bet that none of them have a major holiday, the most romantic and love stricken holiday, as its namesake. St. Valentine cannot say the same.
Now, St. Valentine was an official saint in the Catholic church. He was not, however, named after just one specific man. He was named after two Christian martyrs that date back to the 3rd century in Rome. The story does not start there. Why were there two men named Valentine who gave their life for this day you ask? Was it just coincidence or did Emperor Claudius II know what he was doing when on the same date - February 14 - but different years he killed two men named Valentine? The pre-St. Valentine history is fraught with violence and tradition, nothing of which truly revolved around our modern idea of love. Just drunk men sacrificing animals and then beating women with said animal carcasses in an attempt at fertility, all during the three day festival call Lupercalia. There is more to this story, but again, another time another place.
Despite how it’s been told over time, the history around St. Valentine is not always clear or reliable. So although he remains the patron saint of lovers, and a recognized saint by the Roman Catholic Church, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the church did choose to remove him from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 because of the lack of consistent information supporting who he was or how rose to become a saint.
While we may not know the history of all of the Valentine men, or even know where their different stories have intertwined and become the main narrative, we do have the tale of the Valentine who gave his life for the love of others and that’s romantic enough for us. For if you won’t sacrifice your literal head for love how much of a romantic are you? The tale of Valentine’s sacrifice happened while Emperor Claudius II, who was also known as Claudius Gothicus, was in power. During his time as Emperor, Claudius II made a decree that Roman men were not allowed to get married as he believed single men would make better soldiers. However, Valentine, the true romantic that he was and coincidentally also a priest, was not going to stand for this. He started performing marriage ceremonies in secret. He was found out and jailed for this defiance of the law. Eventually he was sentenced to death, but during his tenure in prison he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and corresponded with her via letter. Rumor has it, in his final farewell letter to her he signed it “Love from you Valentine.”
In an article from National Public Radio, Noel Lenski, a Yale historian, talks about the transition from a nudity filled festival of violence to a Christian holiday. She says that it was not until the end of the 5th Century AD that Pope Gelasius I officially declared it a holiday. Mid-February was chosen in an attempt to transform and christianize the formerly pagan holiday of Lupercalia. And it was not until the 1300s that it started to be celebrated in the modern was we know it to be celebrated now. It wasn’t until the 15th century that the first written evidence of a love letter even appear, and then not until the 17th century that the other conventionalities of the day grew in popularity. Now we not only send cards, but send gifts of chocolates and flowers as well. The modern day interpretation of Valentine’s Day has taken what was once a grouseome holiday and turned it into a celebration of love for someone special in your life.
