Emperor Claudius

Claudius II was the Roman emperor who outlawed marriage and threatened execution for anyone performing a wedding. The priest Valentine defied that order by secretly marrying couples, including his friends Titus and Paulina. After Valentine was arrested, Claudius offered mercy only if he renounced his Christian faith and stopped conducting marriages. Valentine refused both conditions. The emperor's law forced subjects to choose between obedience to the state and convictions about faith, love, and marriage. Valentine remained imprisoned and was executed on February 14. Claudius's attempt to control private devotion through fear could not end the practice he opposed, because Titus continued helping couples marry and the church later remembered Valentine's courage on the date of his death.