The Ancients - The Truth About Saint Valentine

Episode Date: February 13, 2022

St. Valentine of Rome, patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, among many other things. But who exactly is the real St Valentine, and how has the story been kept alive? In this episode, Tristan is joined by historian and licensed tour guide Agnes Crawford as we piece together the complicated background of Saint Valentine. From the potential origins of Valentine's day, its ancient association with love, and Agnes' work in Rome, we explore the mysteries of St Valentine's life.Order Tristan’s book today!If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit.To download, go to Android or Apple store.If you’re enjoying this podcast and looking for more fascinating The Ancients content then subscribe to our Ancients newsletter!

Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the Ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit. With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabataeans, and enjoy a new release every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. It's the Ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and in today's podcast we'll be talking about the figure behind the day, Saint Valentine. Who was the real Saint Valentine? A figure who was born in the third century,

according to our sources, during this time of crisis in the Roman Empire, particularly for early Christians. Now to talk about the ancient figure of Saint Valentine, or shall we say Saint Valentine's, because the story of Saint Valentine, as you're about to hear, it's a bit complicated. It's a bit muddy at places. There are a few mysteries that still abound. But to talk through what we do know and his legacy, I was delighted to get on the podcast Agnes Crawford. Agnes, she is a qualified, licensed guide living in Rome, giving tours of Rome. She's got 13 years of experience. She knows a lot about Rome's art, Rome's architecture, Rome's ancient history, and of course, a lot about some of Rome's early saints, such as Saint Valentine.

So without further ado, to talk all about Saint Valentine, here's Agnes. Agnes, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the podcast today. And thank you for asking me. Not a problem. And this is quite a topic. It's February, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. And I mean, it's the most romantic day of the year, surely. But the real Saint. Valentine, the truth about St. Valentine, this figure, can we say he'd probably be quite surprised if he was around today and he saw that he was associated first and foremost with love? Yes, I think that's certainly the case. It's a name which, of course, for us is synonymous, but was anything but at the time. And in fact, it's really only in the Middle Ages that this association begins to come about. I mean, the figure of St. Valentine himself is a fairly hazy figure,

as so many early Christian martyrs are. There aren't a great deal of contemporary, there aren't no contemporary references to him. We get the first references coming perhaps 50 years, perhaps 100 years. So even when he's around, he's around either in the middle of the third century up into the early fourth century, a period which is dense with Christian persecution. So which of the persecutions he fell victim to is also something of much discussion. And there are multiple saints with the name Valentine, but that associated with the 14th of February is usually described as either Valentine of Rome or Valentine of Turney, which is a town in Umbria, and they may or may not be the same person.

Well, well, lots of mysteries, shall we say, lots of puzzling questions that we need to delve into then. And you mentioned, of course, the sources and perhaps some troubles with the sources. I mean, what sources do we have for this figure of Valentine? So the earliest mention comes in an illustrated calendar called the Chronography of 354, which is illustrated by a calligrapher called Philokalos. He has a very distinctive script. And this illustrated calendar tells us that Valentine was martyred during the reign of Gallienus, so here in the mid-third century, and that he was buried by a Christian woman called Sabinilla in land that she owned at the foot of the hill at what are called the parioli, so sort of northwest of the city centre, where in fact the catacomb complex that bears the name of St Valentine

is to be found. But I mean, if that's the earlier source, but I'm guessing there are more sources which follow, does it start getting a bit problematic, shall we say, as time goes on? sources which follow, does it start getting a bit problematic, shall we say, as time goes on? Absolutely. The chronography is fairly succinct in its reference. Subsequently, there is a source which in its very name is already sort of slightly problematic. It's called the Martyrology of Jerome. So traditionally, but undoubtedly inaccurately attributed to Saint Jerome. And that's written in the late fifth, early sixth century. And that's a calendar of martyrs and is written using earlier sources. And so it's at best a secondary source, probably a sort of fourth, fifth hand source. And it describes Valentine as bishop and martyr and as celebrated on the 14th of February.

And so from all these sources that we have available, Agnes, for him, I appreciate that there are problems with them. But what can we try and piece together about Valentine's background? I know there's probably not that much information, but what can we take a punt at, as it was, for his background? Well, both of the figures, Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Turney, whether or not they're the same person, both of them are described as priests. Valentine of Turney, and of course, that version says that he's born in the city of Turney in Umbria. He's the patron saint of Turney. He's a big deal if you go to Turney. And he's described as bishop of the city of Turney. Of course,

whether he is alive or victim of the persecutions of the middle of the third century or the early fourth century, he's around before Constantine's legitimization of Christianity. So when we say bishop, don't think of a sort of powerful figure wearing grand robes, but a sort of higher elder in the early church. Alternatively, he's referred to as a priest in both occasions. He's described as ministering to the persecuted Christians. There is one version of the story, which again comes from these later sources, of the story, which again comes from these later sources, which tells us that he married young Christian couples, possibly with the intention of having, because married men couldn't go to war, that this was perhaps intended there. But again, I mean, this is something that gets mentioned much,

much later, and is an entirely unreliable story. But it's a nice story when we think about the version of St. Valentine that we are told of today. So he's a priest. He is involved in the evangelization of the early church when Christianity is, of course, illicit. And he suffers a martyrdom as a result of that. I mean, Agnes, just going on a quick tangent here about these early martyrs at this time, because of course, you mentioned this is the third century, and we associate third century, sometimes with crisis with the Roman Empire, and you mentioned that it's before Constantine. So is this time where we do seem to see this pushback against Christianity from those figures at the top in the Roman Empire intermittently? Is this a time where

we see, of course, we're talking about Valentine, but do we see other early martyrs, you know, their stories are also really occurring around this time, you know, before Constantine, whereas there is this pushback? Yeah, absolutely. Without doubt, absolutely. You mentioned the troubled century, the third century is where one sees the previously sporadic persecutions of the Christians, violent but sporadic, they become ever more dense. And undoubtedly, the growth of the spread of Christianity, which is fundamentally problematic as far as the emperors are concerned, because Christians venerate one God, they don't venerate the gods, which are the underpinning of the

imperial power. And of course, I mean, emperors, when they died, if they weren't too terrible, became gods. So the whole hierarchy of the empire is based on the Roman religion, Mars, father of Romulus, the god of war is the father of the founder of Rome. And as such, if you don't worship Mars, you know, the whole story sort of falls apart. So undoubtedly, as Christianity becomes ever more widespread, of course, the whole story sort of falls apart. So undoubtedly, as Christianity becomes ever more widespread, of course, the more people that are proselytizing, the more people convert and to coin a phrase, it goes viral. And undoubtedly, the troubled third century has a number of difficulties, but the undermining of the institutions of state and the religion upon which they rest by this subversive, mysterious Eastern religious cult is absolutely indicative of II, the persecution that sees the death of Valentine is difficult to identify because there are several of them in that period.

during this third century period, this later half of the third century, what miracles, what legends are associated with him or come to be associated with him during this time as Christianity is rising in the Roman Empire? Yeah, so well, the stories again, which were told after the event, but there is hagiography, a life which is the passion of St. Valentine, Bishop and Martyr of Turney, of course, passio, you know, as in life and suffering in the Christian sense rather than in any other sense. But in this hagiography written in the 6th century, he's described as, for example, curing a child afflicted by sudden paralysis, which is possibly one of the reasons why he would subsequently become the patron saint of epileptics, for example. And so this is one of the miracles that he's ascribed. There's another miracle in which heals a blind

or brings sight back to a blind girl who is the adoptive daughter of a judge called Asterius who had imprisoned him. Valentine converts not only Asterius, but his large familias, by which we mean household rather than sort of nuclear family. You know, the curing of this girl is suitable for the conversion of that family. And here there's an almost entirely apocryphal tale to, it's also a coda to add to the almost entirely apocryphal tale of the miracle, which is that Valentine wrote to this girl who he had cured and signed it from your Valentine. But this is, again, something that's told long after the event. But is this something really interesting to really highlight here, Agnes, that Valentine, obviously, we associate him like the saint of love today, but he was the saint of many other things in

antiquity from epilepsy and so on. Well, he would also have been the patron saint of beekeepers as well, associated with the sweetness of the honey. That's quite something. That comes, as far as I know, after the association of sort of romantic love. In fact, that's a fairly sort of later. He's, I mean, particularly notable as the patron saint of the city of Turney and bits of him would end up all over the world. But he is after his martyrdom, he's martyred. The story says, having attempted to convert possibly even the emperor. And this is the version of the story that refers to the emperor Claudius II. And converting the emperor was a step too far. The emperor wasn't having any of it. And we are told that Valentine was martyred on the 14th of February. The feast days of saints are often the day of their death, which for early Christians is the Dies Natalis,

the birthday. So the day of their earthly death is the beginning of their heavenly life. So the Dies Natalis, the birthday, is in fact the death day. And he is martyred on the Via Flaminia outside the city limits. He is beaten and then beheaded. A very violent death of the sort that most martyrs probably met. violent death of the sort that most martyrs probably met. I mean, just stepping back a little bit from that, of course, we're talking about the emperor now and the emperor sentencing him to death. And I know there are various stories around this, Agnes, but do we know how Valentine goes from, you know, this judge, Asturias, to then actually meeting the emperor and trying to convert the emperor? Because this feels like a real kind of step up in his attempts, in his Christian conversion attempts. a real kind of step up in his attempts, in his Christian conversion attempts? Well, I think the idea is that having, you know, been imprisoned and having managed to wangle his way around this canny judge, I think he was seen as dangerous and therefore

gets taken. I mean, this is the version of the story that one comes across that he gets sort of, you know, taken to the top brass because he's obviously capable of wangling his way round those lower down the hierarchical ladder. I mean, it's very much worth not getting too bogged down in the details because, again, the stories quite often don't hang together terribly well when one starts investigating further. together terribly well when one starts investigating further. And of course, I mean, the facts of the truths or otherwise of the events of early martyrdoms, in a way, are not as important as the fact that early Christians believed them to be true. So perhaps, you know, rather like all sorts of legends, you know, both ancient or whether we're talking about early Christian legend, the details and the nuts and bolts of whether or not they actually happened matter rather less than

the fact that, yes, people believed them to have happened and they would be very important for the spread of Christianity during the last period of the empire. So it's really, it's the power of the story rather than the power of the actual person, is it Agnes? I think very often these individual people are sort of conflated and you have elements of multiple people who get put together in one person. I mean, one has to bear in mind that when one is considering the faithful of not only the early church, but in this case, the early church, people, for the most part, couldn't read. The stories that are told are memorable, oral traditions, which are being passed down and which, you know, get modified and embellished along the way.

There's usually a kernel of truth in it somewhere. And undoubtedly, whether this specific tale of Valentine happened in this way, we can be absolutely certain that it is the sort of thing that happens to uncountable numbers of people. Absolutely. As you listen to this, me and Team History Hit are on our way down to the Weddell Sea, joining the expedition mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust to the place where we believe the endurance lies on the seafloor. If we find it, it'll be the greatest underwater discovery since the Titanic. So get ready. Dan Snow's History Hit podcast is the exclusive place to follow in real time

the search for the lost Endurance shipwreck in Antarctica, with regular episodes and updates dropping in the feed throughout the month. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power.

Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. if we go back to like the importance of it the legacy of it as you mentioned like the power of this whole story whether it's a conflation of several different figures or not, we see in that secret, you know, several figures whose body, their body becomes even more important following their death. And I'm sure this is very true of several saints in Christianity. And the same is true of Saint Valentine. I mean, what happens to his body, supposedly, Agnes? Well, he was buried, it is believed, as we mentioned, at the foot of the Monte dei Parioli. And his body is then at some point exhumed. There is a basilica, a church, which is believed to have been built at the place of his burial by Pope Gelasius I in the year 495. 495, you know, Rome is entering the sort of limp along the last straight.

You know, the empire has collapsed and Christianity is definitively sort of rising, having a century before become the only official religion of state. So in the year 380, Christianity becomes the only official religion of state with So in the year 380, Christianity becomes the only official religion of state with the Edict of Thessaloniki. 495, so that's 100 years later, Pope Gelasius builds a basilica, we are told, dedicated to Valentine. And that is built in the place where, according to the calendar of 354, he was buried. And so the veneration of the saint is certainly significant. Of course, I mean, he's not, saints right the way across the city are being venerated in a similar way.

He's no more important than many of the other early martyrs. But yes, at some point following that, his body is sort of dispersed to various parts of the world. His skull is to be found in Rome at Santa Maria in Cosmodin, a church which dates back to the 8th century and which is mostly famous for the mouth of truth, which is in the entrance portico, which is that great big carved face, an ancient drain cover,

which features in the movie Roman Holiday. Well, inside the church on the left-hand side, the second chapel on the left is the skull of St. Valentine with a crown of flowers. Other relics are to be found in Madrid. There was relics of St. Valentine were given by a cardinal to King Carlos IV of Spain in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, the Cardinal Odescalchi, on behalf of

Gregory XVI, sent relics to Dublin. So there are fragments of a sort of bloody relic of St. Valentine in Dublin. And in the UK, the Birmingham Oratory and a church in the Gorbals in Glasgow, both have pieces of St. Valentine as well. So the importance of relics and the importance of bodies after the deaths of martyrs, I suppose they become particularly significant as the sort of physical proof of faith. And a pilgrimage to go and see a relic, I always think it's a bit like nowadays, we go somewhere and we take a photograph of ourselves standing in front of something, and it's sort of proof that we're there. And I think the visit to touch these relics and very often holy relics will be touched with cloths, for example, which would render them also holy.

So there's something very human in it, this sort of need to go somewhere and physically touch something as a proof of, in this case, faith. and physically touch something as a proof of, in this case, faith. And I guess it's a physical embodiment of the story in a way. It keeps the story associated with this figure very much alive so that in later generations it can be evolved, might be the wrong word, but it can be adapted and so on so that today we might have Valentine associated with love. Yeah, I mean, but the relics of martyrs are, and not just martyrs. I mean, a couple of days ago was the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas in the

church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva by the pantheon. A bone from his forearm was displayed as it is every year on his feast day. He's not a martyr and is a considerably more recent saint, but the relics are, yes, reminders of these figures and they would provide, yes, a sort of physical manifestation of the sanctity of the figure to be visited. We kind of really jumped around the topic. So let's really delve into it now, which is, of course, Valentine's Day itself. So, I mean, what are the potential origins of Valentine's

Day or Valentine becoming associated with love following his death? Well, if we go back to Valentine's Day, I suppose, if we think of the 14th of February, long before the association with Valentine's Day as we think of it now, but if we go back to the ancient Roman calendar, 15th of February was a Roman feast of the Lupercalia, which was a Roman festival of purification. And it was also called Februatus. And Februatus takes its name from a sort of strip of the flayed skin of a sacrificed animal, the februa, which was a sort of whip that would be carried around by naked young men gallivanting around the perimeter of the Palatine Hill. And the Feast of the Februa was associated with purification. It's the root of the word fever. So there's a sort of an idea of general feverishness

to the whole thing. And the idea, I suppose, of fevers themselves as processes of purification. And the month February, of course, takes its name from that. And it was, yes, particularly associated with the Lupercal. where in legend, Romulus and Remus washed up and was suckled by the lupa. So that's where it takes its name from. And that's the she-wolf, the symbol of the city of Rome. So it's rooted also in the story of Rome's origins and the birth of the city of Rome. And there is associated a fertility rite as well. As these naked young men were gallivanting around, waving up bits of furry skin of sacrificed animals, women would throw themselves in front of these men, according to Plutarch, who's writing

the sort of high imperial period, late first, early second century. And he says that women would get in their way and present their hands to be struck, he says, like children at school, naughty children at school, I suppose. And the belief was that those who were pregnant would deliver well, and that those who weren't would become pregnant if they were touched by these sort of strips of animal skin. So it's a very, very ancient tradition. I mean, Plutarch talks about it, you know, round about the year 100. He's talking about something that's like way ancient for him. It's rooted in archaic legend. And this feast of the Lupercalia with its, you know, ever so slightly

febrile activities was seen, as many of these festivals were, as being a little, you know, out of control, perhaps. And in fact, it's the Pope who is believed to have built the first Basilica of St. Valentine, Pope Gelasius, who definitively abolished the Lupercalia. Now, that's a very interesting fact, because this is over a century after Christianity became the only religion of state. So 100 years after Christianity is the only religion of state, the archaic pagan festival of the Lupercalia is still taking place. It needs to be abolished. I mean, it's a real reminder of how there is this real gray area. It's not like everybody woke up one day and was suddenly

Christian. So there's this very gray area of transformation from one tradition into the next. So the feast of the Lupercalia is abolished. The idea that it is replaced with the celebration of St. Valentine is considerably less than clear. There is also a theory that it's replaced with the purification of the Virgin, which is the Feast of Candlemas, and the celebration undoubtedly of these Saints' Days. I think it's difficult to sort of say that

there is a direct, and it's oversimplistic to say that there's a direct translation from one celebration to the next. However, we know that Pope Gelasius, who abolishes the Lupercalia, is believed to have built the first basilica of St. Valentine's, so that there was some celebration of that feast day, quite possibly. But but yes i think it's a mistake to try and look for exact equivalency but that's so interesting what you mentioned there agnes so there was this monumental building constructed at the same time as let's say this festival was introduced for saint valentine which perhaps should we say was the center of this saint's remembrance worship shall we say yeah undoubtedly say, though, it is one of

umpteen similar churches in Rome being constructed in the same period. So yeah, and it was much smaller than many of the other churches which had already been constructed. So I mean, the early masses had been, in my namesake, for example, St Agnes, a basilica dedicated to her was built on the Via Nomintana during the reign of the Emperor Constantine. That's, you know, 170 years earlier. So it's, I would say, more coincidental than a direct connection. Going back to the idea of the sort of association with romantic love and the Feast of Valentine, that comes much later. Valentine. That comes much later, and in fact, has an English connection, because it's usually thought, I mean, the first identifiable mention of St. Valentine's Day in that sort of context comes in Geoffrey Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls or Parliament of Birds, which is written to honour

the engagement of Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia, whose alliance, I mean, they were 15, their alliance was undoubtedly a political rather than a romantic one. But Chaucer gives it a sort of romantic spin. And he talks of the Parliament of Fowls, the Parliament of Birds meeting together for every bird to choose his match. And he says, for this was on St. Valentine's Day. So that's really the first mention that we have. So that's in the late 14th century. We're over a thousand years after the lifetime of St. Valentine. So that's so interesting, Agnes. So perhaps like we have Shakespeare to thank largely for Et tu, Brute?

And that association with Caesar's assassination on the Ides of March. Valentine's Day and the association with love, we have largely, can we say, to thank to Chaucer writing several centuries later. Absolutely, absolutely. And I mean, in regards to that, is that also where you get these future stories? You mentioned that one earlier, which I'd like to bring back, which is, you know, the From Your Valentine story. Does that therefore emerge in the wake of this association with love being established? Yes, exactly. So these are stories and embellishments, which undoubtedly over the course of the centuries are added in as a sort of expansion, I suppose, of this idea. And of course, I mean, when Chaucer is writing, he's associating it with that medieval

idea of courtly love, of chivalry, which is an idea which is fundamentally of that period, and not a concept, let's say, which existed during the early Christian period. And I guess one other question before we really start wrapping up, Agnes, is I guess we're looking at the legacy of Valentine to this day. Of course, you're talking from Rome today. We've also mentioned Turney. I mean, how prominent a saint is Valentine in, let's say, Roman Turney today? In Turney, he's a big deal. In Rome, I wonder if you were to stop 10 Romans on the street and ask them where the skull of St. Valentine is, if they would necessarily know, I doubt it. And in fact, curiously, Valentine's Day,

during the sort of general globalisation of events, but Valentine's Day has become more significant in Italy in recent years. It's fundamentally, I think, something that one associates as being celebrated, particularly in the Anglophone world, really. So I think Valentine of Rome may have died in Rome, but his sort of trinkets and Valentine's cards and things like that have come by way of the English speaking world. That's really interesting to hear. And I guess, of course, should we mention just before we end that there were many other Valentines too, weren't there, in ancient history, not just these two that we've kind of focused on today? Absolutely. So Valentine is a very common name in late antiquity. It's a very good name, Valens, meaning strong or powerful. So Valentinus is a name which is common in late antiquity, which is the period in which one sees, as we mentioned, the proliferation of both Christianity and of persecutions. And there are multiple saints with the name. I think

there are 11 officially listed in the sort of calendar of the Catholic Church. And that doesn't include those who have variations on the name. So yes, there are multiple. There's, for example, one who travelled into Bavaria and was a hermit for a period in Germany, who is nothing to do with Turney or Rome, as far as we're aware. Well, there you go. And I think there's a Roman emperor or two called Valentinus as well, isn't there? So as you said, it was a popular name at that time. Absolutely. Valens, Valentinus, variations thereof. So many. I mean, Agnes, this has been a great chat. Last but certainly not least, talk to us a bit about your work in Rome, exploring Rome, understanding Rome.

Absolutely. So I've lived in Rome for 22 years. And for the last 21 years, I've led tours in the city. I studied architectural history at Edinburgh University. And there's a lot of architecture and a lot of history. Great university. Absolutely. A hundred percent. There's a lot of stuff to look at.

So yeah, I have a small business, understandingrome.com. And I'm found on Instagram and Twitter and all the usual places. And I show people whatever they'd like to see. So personalised private tours of Roman environs. No job too big or too small, as they say. That's what we want to hear. Well, Agnes, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on the podcast today. Thank you very much for having me. Well, there you go. There was our interview with Agnes Crawford all about the real St. Valentine. It was a fascinating topic, wasn't it?

And it's so interesting how his legacy, his close association with love, with romance, only really emerged because of a writer writing hundreds of years later during the medieval period. So all we can say is thank you, Chaucer. It's a fascinating topic and I hope you enjoyed. Now last but certainly not least if you want even more ancients content including the weekly newsletter which I am now writing excerpts for every week and I give little hints about what's

coming next well you can subscribe to our newsletter via the link in the description below. Of course my book is recently out. I'm still going to plug it a little longer. If you're interested in what follows Alexander the Great's death and the great chaos that erupts in his empire, this ancient Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings, except it's non-fiction. That's right, it's non-fiction.

Then we'll also put a link to that in the description below too. Finally, if you do love the show, please do leave us a lovely rating on Spotify or too. Finally, if you do love the show, please do leave us a lovely rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts from. It's really appreciated and it helps us spread the ancient love even further and further. And with that, I will see you in you next not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power.

Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca.