Saint Valentine's Story: Who Was The Inspiration For Valentine’s Day And What Did He Do?

Everyone knows that Feb. 14 of every year is Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love, both romantic and plutonic. But far fewer people know the story about how the celebration came to be. Just who was Saint Valentine?

He is Something of a Mystery Man

The only truly established facts about the man behind Valentine’s Day is that he was martyred and buried in Rome in the third century. Many experts said facts about his life have been conflated from multiple Valentines that existed around that time. After all, there were around a dozen Saint Valentines, along with a Pope Valentine in the ninth century.

But the popular account was that he was a priest who was arrested by Roman Emperor Claudius II for marrying Christian couples who were at the time being persecuted. While imprisoned, Valentine curried favor with Claudius. However, he fatally overstepped his mark when he attempted to convert the emperor to Christianity.

For his crime, Valentine was beaten and beheaded. There has been some debate over whether he died or was buried Feb. 14.

His Life Did Not Become a Celebration Until Much Later
It wasn’t until the 14th century that the concept of Valentine’s Day as a way to celebrate lovers was established. And, rather than the church or florists eager for some extra profits, it may well have been a poet that gave birth to the tradition. British literary great Geoffrey Chaucer, best known for writing the “Canterbury Tales,” penned “The Parliament of Fowls” in the 14th century, which many believe included the first mention of the romantic holiday.

“For this was on Saint Valentine’s day/When every fowl comes there his mate to take,” he wrote.

There Are Options if You Don’t Fancy Celebrating Love
If you don’t feel like celebrating the romantic aspect of St. Valentine’s Day this year then there are alternatives that allow you to still mark his life. While predictably he was the patron saint of lovers and engaged couples, happy marriages and many more elements of love, he was also the saint who represented bee keeping, epilepsy, fainting and the plague.