St Valentine's Day

Origin and history

Valentine was a priest or bishop in the Roman Empire in the third century who helped persecuted Christians and was martyred. He was buried on the Via Flaminia, a road leading north from Rome, on 14 February, and his feast has been kept on that day since at least the eighth century. Several martyrs named Valentine are connected with the date, and many stories grew up later. An early tradition says he restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter; a much later, 18th-century addition says he wrote her a farewell letter signed 'Your Valentine'. The day was not linked with romantic love until the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century.

Customs

• Sending cards and notes called valentines, often with hearts and doves. The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century poem written by Charles, Duke of Orléans, to his wife while he was a prisoner.
• Giving flowers and sweets to family and friends.

How traditions differ

Anglican and Lutheran churches commemorate Valentine on 14 February, and Eastern Orthodoxy on 6 July. In 1969 the Catholic Church removed his feast from its general calendar, leaving it to local calendars. He is also a patron saint of beekeepers.

In the library

Great Lives: Geoffrey Chaucer

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