Valentinus was an early Christian mystic and poet. He was born in Phrebonis in Egypt in approx. 100 AD, and educated in Alexandria. He is occationally regarded a gnostic, because of the influence the mystical knowledge, gnosticism, has in his thoughts.

Valentinus claimed, like many early mystics, that he had had a vision of the risen Jesus Christ. Following his vision, he started his career as a teacher in Alexandria in 125 AD. His esoteric teachings attracted a large following in Egypt and Syria.

His later career is uncertain. He moved to Rome in 136 AD, where he continued his teachings, and allegedly died there somewhere between 155 AD and 165 AD.

His disciples developed his ideas further, and spread them throughout the Roman Empire.

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