As an undergraduate, on a tour of Europe, I happened to step into the church where Saint Valentine’s head was kept. The tour guide told us a (likely fictitious) story about Saint Valentine performing forbidden marriages for persecuted Christians under the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus (possibly 269-270 AD). Valentine was then imprisoned and beheaded in Rome.

His saint’s day has since become a celebration of romance. But earlier medieval accounts of Valentine’s life contain no mention of his association with love.

In The Golden Legend (c. 1225) –- an enormously popular book, which is the main database of saints’ lives throughout the middle ages and beyond – I found no references to love or marriage in the story of Saint Valentine.

In The Golden Legend, Valentine of Rome manages to restore the sight of an official’s daughter. As a result of this miracle he converts many to Christianity and incurring the wrath of the emperor. Valentine refuses to sacrifice to Roman idols and is imprisoned and beheaded. There is no love and there are no lovers.

But to add further complication, there is yet another prominent Saint Valentine, this time of Terni, Italy. Often confused or conflated with Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni was a bishop and scholar. His reputation reached a man named Crato whose son had been crippled since he was three. Valentine agreed to try and cure the child on the condition that Crato converted to Christianity.

Valentine succeeded in curing the boy and converted Crato, his household and many others including the local magistrate. Upon hearing of this cure, the Roman senators demanded that Valentine prays to their gods. Valentine, refusing to do so, was beheaded becoming a saint as well.

The two Valentines are remarkably similar and while their cults were popular throughout Europe, it is difficult to distinguish one from another. What is intriguing about these stories is that neither connects Valentine with love. The statements of Saint Valentine conducting secret marriages seem unsupported by medieval texts.

So where do we get this association between Valentine and love? Well, one short answer is the medieval poet Chaucer, who is sometimes heralded as the father of English Literature must have invented it.