Starry-eyed romantics and red-rose haters alike can look to one
source for their respective love or cynicism every February 14:
St. Valentine. Though everyone knows the name, much less is
known about the man – to wit, he may not even have been just one
figure. Historical details are murky, and the prevailing theory
is that one or multiple Valentines existed and may have been
conflated over the years. - One Valentine was a Roman priest and
doctor who was persecuted by the emperor Claudius II for
marrying Christian couples. Claudius took a liking to Valentine,
but Valentine overstepped his bounds when he tried to convert
the emperor, and Claudius sentenced him to death – and an ugly
death at that. Lore suggests that he was beaten, stoned, and
finally beheaded. - Some accounts state that this priest had
fallen in love with the blind daughter of his jailer, and signed
a letter that he wrote to her “from your Valentine.” Another
tale says that after his brutal death, he performed the miracle
of restoring the sight