Biografi om Saint Valentine

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. And it was in 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honour of his martyrdom.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. (Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine). Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth (Claudius II).

Saint Valentine or Saint Valentinus was according to the romantic legend, a kind-hearted Roman priest who married young couples against the wishes of Emperor Claudius II, and when Claudius found out of this he ordered Valentine to bee beaten with clubs and stoned but when that didn't do it, he was beheaded for his deeds on the 14th of February. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus prayed for the jailer's blind daughter and restored he sight. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."