Valentine lived in Rome during the 3rd century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor called Claudius. Valentine didn't like Emperor Claudius, and Valentine wasn't the only one.
Claudius needed to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their partners and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. Valentine thought it was preposterous! Valentine certainly wasn't going to support that law!
One of Valentine favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, Valentine kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and Valentine.
One night, Valentine did hear footsteps. It was scary! Valentine was caught. & Valentine was thrown in jail and told that his punishment was death.
Valentine tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit him. They threw flowers and notes up to Valentine window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit Valentine in the cell. She helped Valentine to keep his spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day Valentine was to die, Valentine left his friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. "Love from your Valentine."
