On February 14, we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, a day on which we show our appreciation for our special loved one or significant other. Uncharacteristically, however, this date has also been a black day of death and murder!
Digging Deeper
Now considered a “Hallmark Holiday,” it was named after the unfortunate St. Valentine, a Christian, said to be a bishop, who was executed by the Romans in 269 A.D. for preaching the Gospel. He was not just executed but beaten with clubs and beheaded. Somehow, this guy whom we know almost nothing about came to symbolize romantic love (especially ironic since the root word of romantic is roman).
Since then, other bloody events that also took place on February 14 include:
The death of St. Cyril, the man the Cyrillic alphabet is named after, in 869 A.D., but at least he was not beaten to death.
The burning of hundreds of Jews in Strasbourg in 1349, one of the particularly tragic events that took place on this day.
The murder of the famous British explorer James Cook in 1779.
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