Why St. Valentine’s Death Is Shrouded in Mystery

Although St. Valentine lends his name to Valentine’s Day, he did not become known as the patron saint of lovers until hundreds of years after his death. The third-century priest lived during a time when Christians were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Records and historic liturgical calendars indicate he was martyred, though what exactly led to his murder is a bit murky.

There are a few different accounts of who St. Valentine was and why he was killed, but ultimately his death, a beheading, was tied to the religious persecution of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

According to limited historical details, there might have been more than one St. Valentine who was martyred on February 14. Two of them were killed in Italy around A.D. 269 or 270, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus.

Lore states that a Roman priest, Valentine or Valentinus, was captured then cured the blindness of his captor’s daughter. The family had agreed to convert to Christianity if this miracle occurred, which angered Claudius II, who ordered the execution of Valentine and the family, wrote Lisa Bitel, a professor of religion and history at University of Southern California, in 2018.

Another account suggests that when Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men in order to build a stronger army, St. Valentine continued to marry young couples against the emperor’s orders. When he was caught, he was executed.

There was also a St. Valentine who was a bishop in Terni, Italy. Some accounts suggest he was martyred for refusing to renounce his faith. Because details of his life and death overlap with the St. Valentine of Rome, some scholars believe the records are about the same person rather than two men named Valentine.

Various legends about St. Valentine appear in Roman martyrologies, explains Elizabeth White Nelson, an associate professor of history at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and author of Market Sentiments: Middle-Class Market Culture in 19th-Century America. “It’s very hard to know whether those stories are true,” she says.

During much of the Roman Empire, which spanned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 476, Christianity was not popular, and Christians were often tortured or killed for their beliefs. Instead, people commonly worshipped multiple gods and goddesses and even some emperors. Because Christians follow only one god, they were often seen as traitors.

Emperor Claudius II served from 268 to 270, likely during the time one or more Christian men named Valentine were killed. He was known as an ambitious military leader and is often linked to the martyrdom of St. Valentine.