Who exactly saint Valentine was is a matter of some debate even to this day. There appear to have been 3 different saint Valentines all tied to February the 14^th. The one most commonly associated with Valentines day seems to stem from a man executed by Claudius the second of Rome. There is little known about the other 2 save that they were both also killed for their faith (one was a Bishop in what is now Italy, and the other is just referenced to as being a martyr in the Roman province of Africa).There are several variations to this legend, but they seem to share some common traits.

It seems the Saint Valentine that is tied to the holiday was a priest in Rome. Supposedly the emperor Claudius II, had outlawed marriages in an attempt to get more men enlisting in his army. There is some confusion here as well, some texts say it was only christian marriages that were outlawed, while others claim it was all faiths. There is also some debate as to why this affected the army’s of Claudius II, some just claiming men were not motivated to go to war due to attachment to their wives and family’s, while others suggest that there was an outright exception for married men not being called upon to join.

The then priest Valentine continued preforming christian marriages despite the law banning them and was subsequently arrested. There is some variation on this next part as well but it seems Valentine either cured the judges daughter of blindness and converted the judge and his entire household to Christianity, or he cured the jailers daughter of blindness. Supposedly Claudius was fond of Valentine until he made the mistake of trying to convert the emperor to Christianity. Valentine was ordered to renounce his faith or be put to death. Valentine refused and was executed on February 14^th. There is again some debate about the year but most accounts have the execution occurring in the year 269 or 270. All the accounts seem to agree he was beheaded, though some also claim he was either beaten with or without clubs, stoned, tortured, or all of the above first. According to the legend he left a note for the jailers daughter before he was executed, signing it “from your Valentine”. According to the Catholic faith, he is the patron saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.