Saint Nicholas

Nicholas was bishop of Myra in Lycia, on the southern coast of what is now Turkey, in the fourth century. Few facts of his life are certain, but he was one of the most loved saints of both East and West, and many stories grew up around him.

He is said to have been born to wealthy Christian parents at Patara and to have lost them young. The best-known story tells of a poor man with three daughters who could not afford their dowries and was about to sell them into prostitution. Nicholas came secretly at night three times and threw a bag of gold through the window, one for each daughter. When the father caught him on the third night, Nicholas made him promise to tell no one. The three bags of gold, often shown as three golden balls, became his emblem.

As bishop he is said to have been imprisoned in the persecution of Diocletian and released under Constantine. Later tradition places him at the Council of Nicaea in 325, defending the divinity of Christ. Other stories tell of his calming a storm at sea, rescuing three innocent men from execution, and bringing grain to Myra in a famine. He died on 6 December, around 343.

In 1087 sailors from Bari in southern Italy carried his relics away from Myra, and the basilica of San Nicola was built for them. His feast became a day of gifts for children. In the Netherlands he was Sinterklaas, and Dutch settlers brought him to New York, where he slowly turned into Santa Claus.