St. Valentine

So I guess you want to know about St. Valentine too, huh? Fine.

Saint Valentine, patron saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, plague, travellers, young people, etc., etc. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses. He was martyred in 269 (-ish).

The origin of St. Valentine (and how many St. Valentines there were is sketchy). Some say he was a Roman who was martyred for refusing to renounce Christianity. Others swear that he was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493. It says he was arrested and imprisoned by Claudius II because he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding said couples when they were inevitably persecuted. A possible rider to the religious persecution was that because of all the warring going on at the time, Claudius needed soldiers and he didn't want any of his potential soldiers refusing to go to war because they wanted to stay home with their wives/families so he announced all marriages to be unlawful. Anyway, some say that the funny thing is Claudius supposedly took a liking to Valentine while he was in jail and may have even let him go...until Valentine tried to convert him. He was subsequently clubbed, stoned , and beheaded. One legend says that, while awaiting his execution, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter and, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to her, signing it, "From your Valentine."

Regardless, in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. Whether this was actually his death day or not, this day happens to coincide with the Roman Spring festival, the Lupercalia, held in honour of the gods Pan (god of fertility, trickster figure, origin of the word panic) and Juno (protectress of women, goddess of marriage and childbirth). One of the most important festivals in the Roman calendar, which was exported to Britain (one of many). At the Lupercalia, Roman boys and girls drew names out of a box to find out who would be their partner for the festival.

The early Christian church was unable to prevent people from celebrating this pagan festival, so they linked it with the name of St. Valentine, who became the Patron Saint of lovers, etc. Ta Da!

Fun Facts:

The custom of sending Valentines is hundreds of years old. The earliest known Valentine was sent in Norfolk in 1477, in the form of a letter from Margery Brews to John Paston, whom she described as ‘my right well beloved Valentine’. Printed Valentines began to appear in the late eighteenth century, before this they were usually lacy, hand painted (and expensive) affairs. By the 1830s Valentines were sent in such great numbers that postmen were given a special allowance for "refreshments" to help them through the week.

I read that "archaeologists" have found a Roman catacomb dedicated to St. Valentine which "proves" his existence. Didn't find any non-Catholic reference to it though.

In the Middle Ages, when men drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be they would wear these names on their sleeves for one week i.e. they would "wear their heart on their sleeve". Yay origins of sayings!