History of Valentine's Day not so romantic

By Teddy Woodward

The most likely reason why the history of Valentine’s Day isn’t well known is because it involves beheadings – not exactly romantic – and there are so many versions of how the holiday originated, and took on a romantic connotation, that no one can agree on the truth.

According to Alban Butler’s “Lives of the Saints,” Valentine, or Valentinus, was a priest who gave aid to Christians under the persecution of the Roman emperor, Claudius II. In the third century in Rome, Christianity was illegal. The Romans apprehended Valentine and tried to make him renounce his faith. When he refused, he was beheaded.

At this point, history becomes a little muddled. It’s not quite certain exactly how Valentine’s Day became the romantic holiday it is today.

Late in the fifth century, Pope Gelasius I named Feb. 14 Saint Valentine’s Day, a date that fell in the middle of a Roman Pagan ritual called Lupercalia, which was observed from Feb. 13-15.

Lupercalia was not a romantic ritual, but one done to promote fertility, it is thought. From William Smith’s “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,” it consisted of sacrificing two goats and a dog, fashioning thongs from the animals’ hides, and then lashing women with them to promote fertility. Why those animals were sacrificed is also debated. One reason cited is that both goats and dogs are very reproductively active.

History.com, the web site of the History Channel, presented the most entertaining tale that would explain the connection between St. Valentine and romance.

In that version, Emperor Claudius II had a problem. His armies would regularly go for long periods of time without seeing their homes, and would become, essentially, lovesick, which would affect their morale and performance. So the Emperor banned marriage.

Valentine thought it wrong to deprive the young of love, so he secretly married young couples. He was discovered, and Valentine was thrown into jail. While imprisoned, Valentine prayed for the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter to be restored, according to a 2001 article in the Christian Science Monitor. Depending on the version, Valentine either loved this girl, or befriended her, and on the eve of his execution wrote her a note signed “From your Valentine.”

Other versions, including the Catholic one, of this story, say that Valentine’s arrest and execution had nothing to do with marriage, but happened only because he refused to renounce his religion. According to catholiconline.org, St. Valentine is the patron saint of “bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.”

Despite the beheading, 17-year-old Priya Jain of North Oaks, Minn. found the story of Valentine covertly marrying couples quite fitting for the holiday. “It’s so romantic,” she exclaimed.