WHAT’S THE STORY?
TODAY is Saint Valentine’s Day and with the possible exception of Saints George, Christopher and Nicholas – see below – no single saintly figure in the entire history of Christianity has inspired more myths and legends.
Valentine’s name and feast day is now intertwined with a whole widespread sub-culture of love and, frankly, lust. How a third-century martyr came to be associated with soppy romantic cards, bouquets of roses, chocolates, marriage proposals and sexy underwear is actually easy to understand – it was all made up centuries after the poor chap himself literally lost his head for the sake of love.
WHO WAS HE?
AS is the case with so many early Christian saints, there is little or no written contemporaneous record of what Valentine did to earn his reputation as a saint, never mind being the patron saint of love. We don’t even know which Valentine he was – two legends identify him as different people.
The most popular version is that he was a priest and possibly a medical man called Valentinus who preached in Rome in the third century and who was put to death by being beheaded on February 14, 269 or 270, during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II). There is only one problem with that account – there is no record of the emperor persecuting Christians. The “other” Valentine was the Bishop of Terni, who was also decapitated in Rome on February 14, 269 or 270. It is likely they were the same person.
The historical Valentine doesn’t appear until the fifth century, when he was reported by scholars to have been martyred by being beheaded on the Via Flaminia. There is simply nothing in writing earlier to prove he existed.
There were legends aplenty that grew apace – that Valentine had cured the daughter of an important Roman or his jailer of blindness and sent her a note before he died signed “Your Valentine”, and that his rebellious act was to encourage young Christians to marry at a time when the emperor had forbidden engagements to encourage young men to enter the army. Except Claudius didn’t do that either.
Valentine was recognised as a martyr and given his own feast day in 496, and relics of the saint are still venerated in Madrid, Dublin, Prague and Blessed John Duns Scots Church in the Gorbals in Glasgow.
WHAT HAPPENED TO VALENTINE IN 1969?
IN that year, Saint Valentine was one of dozens of saints who suffered the ultimate indignity of being struck off the official General Roman Calendar. The church still called him a saint but made the observation of his feast day a matter for local bishops to decide.
Removing him from the global Catholic calendar was a huge indication that the Vatican doubted his existence, never mind his sainthood, with the official reason for his “demotion” being the lack of verifiable facts about him.
At the same time Pope Paul VI doled out the same fate to St Christopher and St Nicholas – yes, he really did demote Santa Claus. There were howls of indignation at first – mostly from English flagmakers – when St George (above) was also downgraded, but that has not stopped his banner being splattered all over England in increasing numbers.
HOW DID VALENTINE BECOME ASSOCIATED WITH LOVE?
JUST as George had his dragon, people have embraced the cultural significance of the saint rather than the man himself. The idea of Valentine and love is not mentioned anywhere until Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about in the 14th century.
The cult grew spectacularly, especially after card publishers cashed in. But hey, in a world in which there often seems to be too little love, there is surely nothing wrong with having a feast day that celebrates love, even if the saint in question is more myth than fact.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here