Every February 14, hearts appear in shop windows, candy boxes line the counters, and handwritten notes find their way into backpacks and mailboxes. Valentine’s Day, now synonymous with romance and affection, has roots that stretch far deeper than chocolate and roses.
The holiday is named for St. Valentine, a figure—or possibly several figures—shrouded in legend. One popular story traces Valentine’s Day to a Roman priest in the third century who secretly performed marriages for young couples when Emperor Claudius II banned weddings, believing unmarried men made better soldiers. When Valentine’s...