Saint Valentine

About Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine, a religious figure active in the 3rd century CE (c. 226–273), is recognized by the Pantheon project with an HPI Rank of #693, suggesting a significant, though not top-tier, level of enduring historical influence across cultures and time. While the specifics of his martyrdom are debated, he is cemented in history as a figure associated with Christian martyrs under Roman persecution, a legacy that eventually evolved into the modern Valentine's Day observance.

In the context of modern digital attention, Saint Valentine exhibits a marked 'overattention' bias relative to his historical importance. He garners 911K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, resulting in an Attention Gap calculation of +3x, meaning his online visibility is three times what his HPI rank might predict. This digital popularity stands in contrast to significantly more historically important figures, such as Pope Gregory XIII (#477), who receives only 153K views, or Louis XIII of France (#406), who draws just 89K views, suggesting a modern cultural focus driven more by seasonal or romantic themes than purely by broad historical impact.

Despite this overall high attention, the data indicates a sharp, recent decline in sustained interest, evidenced by an 86% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025. This suggests that while the figure commands substantial attention, perhaps related to the annual February holiday, the interest level outside that peak is rapidly diminishing.