Dumbass bullshit from the History Channel.
There was a feast day on the Church’s calendar of saints for St. Valentine, on Feb. 14. But the romantic St. Valentine’s Day was some time in June. Both were so minor that when a Victorian British author (I forget which one) found a story about couples getting married on St. Valentine’s Day, he mistook the June day (an obvious day to get married in England) for the one in February. So unless someone wants to tell me how a day in June was somehow related to Lupercalia, this is utter balls-to-the-wall steaming crap.
Got a chance to nail this down a bit more: Valentine’s Day had no association at all with Romance until Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s poem was written for the wedding of Richard II and Anne, which was on May 2. May 3 was the feast of St Valentine, Bishop of Genoa. Since Chaucer refers to lovebirds (literally, the birds) making such a racket, later authors confused him with referring to a feast of February 23, which because of confusion of calendars, was improperly “corrected” to the Feast of St. Valentine that was on Feb. 14.
So, the “history channel” is the ultimate source for all things pagan? And all those mentions of the holiday in books are - oh, who needs to read that?