Was Saint Nicholas Real? The Medieval Story Behind Santa Claus
Can you remember being a little kid and waiting for Santa Claus with every fibre of your body? Me too! That emotion was so awesome, and the moment when I opened my present under the tree was something that I wish I could feel again. Now, long before Santa Claus, there was Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived in what is now modern Turkey. Now the question is exactly like in the case of Robin Hood: was he a real person, or just another legend? The answer takes us on a real journey from a Roman port to a medieval theft, and finally to the streets of New York. Let me tell you exactly what the story was.
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Was Saint Nicholas a real person?
According to most historians, Saint Nicholas was a real person, but the sad thing is that we know very little about him, to be honest. According to one historian, Jona Lendering, who writes for the St. Nicholas Center, the cult of Saint Nicholas began in the fourth century at Myra, a port in what is now part of southwestern Turkey. All we know is that Nicholas was the bishop in that town, and some claim that he probably did his church job during the reign of Constantine the Great. Another thing that we know is that his tomb lay outside the city walls, exactly the way fourth-century burials did. He perhaps died in 343, as is sometimes claimed.
The real problem is that there is no biography written in his own lifetime. We don’t have any written sources from his time that place him there, or say anything about his life or about him personally. One of the first references to him comes from a speech by the patriarch of Constantinople named Proclus, around the year 440, and of course the speech already had some parts of legend. The first full life story was written by Michael the Archimandrite around 700, roughly three and a half centuries after the saint’s death.
Did he punch a heretic at Nicaea?
Who would have won, Saint Nicholas or Muhammad Ali? Yeah, I know that it sounds insane, but hear me out. One really famous story says that Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in 325. He was apparently so angry with the priest Arius, or at least one of his followers, that he struck him. This is insane! Saint Nicholas was still a human after all! It is a great story, but it comes from a late source. We are not 100% sure that Nicholas was at Nicaea at all. The original minutes are lost, and of the eleven medieval copies of the list of bishops who signed, only three mention his name.
The legend of the three bags of gold
We all love Christmas stories that have happy endings, and this is the case with Saint Nicholas. One legend says that there were three poor sisters, and their father could not pay their dowries. In this case the sisters could not marry and were facing being sold into slavery. Here comes Super Nicholas! He had inherited some money from his parents and wanted to help. The story says that he came at night and threw a bag of gold through their open window. According to the St. Nicholas Center, the first bag landed in a stocking that had been left by the fire to dry.
He did the same for the second sister. When it came to the third sister, the father, who was very curious about who was helping them, stayed awake at night. He caught Nicholas and recognised him. Nicholas asked him to keep the secret and to thank God instead. This tale of secret gifts that came at night is the origin of the custom of hanging up a stocking, or leaving out a shoe, for Saint Nicholas.
The great medieval theft of Saint Nicholas
Both the Greek East and the Latin West honoured Nicholas by the 11th century, even after the East-West Schism of 1054 split the two Churches. Saint Nicholas was so important, and such a figure to inspire others, that even the feud in the Church could not stand in the way. His tomb in Myra became such a famous place of pilgrimage that in 1087 something unimaginable happened. Some merchants and sailors from Bari, in southern Italy, decided to take him home with them. What? Take the body of Saint Nicholas to Italy? This is interesting!
According to the St. Nicholas Center, the expedition of merchants had three ships, and 47 sailors managed to reach the church in Myra. They carried off the saint’s bones and brought them to Bari, where the Feast of the Translation is still celebrated on 9 May. Relics were precious enough to steal, and you can see why people travelled so far to reach them in our article on medieval pilgrimage.
Venice wanted its share
The Bari sailors did not take everything. According to Medievalists.net, Venetian crusaders later carried off the remaining relics to Venice. To this day, the church of San Nicolò al Lido in Venice holds up to 500 bone fragments. An anatomical study found that they complement the bones in Bari, which suggests that both collections may come from the same person. For more on the Crusades and Venice, see our guide to the Crusades explained.
What science says about his bones
In 2017, scientists at the University of Oxford tested a small piece of bone said to come from the saint’s pelvis. The relic was once kept in Lyon and is now in a church in Illinois. Radiocarbon dating placed it in the fourth century AD, the same century in which Nicholas is thought to have died.
That does not prove the bone is his. As Professor Tom Higham explained, “Science is not able to definitely prove that it is, it can only prove that it is not.” Still, the result means the relic could genuinely belong to a man who lived and died in the fourth century.
Saint Nicholas in the Middle Ages
Saint Nicholas became the patron of children, sailors and many others in medieval Europe. By the 12th century, according to Medievalists.net, French nuns were secretly leaving presents at the homes of poor children on the eve of his feast day, 6 December. Well, I think this was a most generous and kind gesture, and I approve of it! From there, this custom spread across much of Europe, and today it lives on in many more countries. This tradition and the cult of Nicholas even reached unimaginable places. In 1126, a cathedral dedicated to him was built at the edge of the known world, in Greenland.
His feast day was also a time of fun and celebration. Who would not enjoy drinking, eating and singing? In many cathedrals a choirboy was chosen as “boy bishop” on Saint Nicholas’ Day and played the part until 28 December. You can read more about these customs in our article on medieval Christmas.
From bishop to Sinterklaas
The Reformation almost ended the story. In the 16th century, Protestants opposed the veneration of saints, and Saint Nicholas traditions were banned in many Protestant lands. The Christ Child, or Christkindl, often took over as the gift-giver. Around the same time, the first decorated Christmas trees appeared in Germany and Alsace. In the Netherlands, however, the saint survived as Sinterklaas, as Jan Steen’s painting of the feast shows.
How Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus
The final change happened in New York, the old Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. In 1809, the writer Washington Irving made fun of Dutch New York in his comic history of the city, with Saint Nicholas bringing gifts down the chimney. In 1821, a children’s book introduced “Sante Claus” arriving by sleigh with a flying reindeer on Christmas Eve, not on 6 December.
Then, on 23 December 1823, the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel. It is usually credited to Clement Clarke Moore, and it gave the world the “‘Twas the night before Christmas” Santa. Later, the cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa for Harper’s Weekly for many years.
Did Coca-Cola invent the red Santa?
No. Coca-Cola’s famous Santa adverts, painted by Haddon Sundblom, only began in 1931. According to the St. Nicholas Center, artists had already shown Saint Nicholas in red almost a century earlier, around 1836–38. Coca-Cola made the jolly red Santa more popular, but it did not invent him. It is one more of the many medieval myths and modern myths that grow around a good story.
What would I ask Saint Nicholas?
If I could meet the real Nicholas of Myra, I would not ask him for presents. I would be curious to know whether he really threw that gold through the window and helped those girls. And if the answer was yes, I would hug him and praise him as a wonderful human being who deserves all the praise. Because I am a funny guy, I would also ask him whether he ever imagined he would end up flying around the world in a sleigh. I would really want to know the answer to this too!
So, was Saint Nicholas real?
Yes, I think it’s very probable. That a bishop named Nicholas lived in Myra in the fourth century, and that his cult started there soon after his death, sounds very real from my point of view. Almost everything else, from the bags of gold to the punch at Nicaea, I think is just legend. But sometimes legends only help the popularity of a person and make the story better. The medieval Church turned him into one of its favourite saints, sailors from Bari stole his bones, and Dutch settlers carried his name to America. For more about saints and relics in the Middle Ages, read our overview of the medieval Church.
Frequently asked questions
Was Saint Nicholas a real person?
Most historians believe he was. He was a bishop of Myra, in modern Turkey, in the fourth century, and his cult began there. However, no biography survives from his lifetime, and most stories about him are later legends.
When did Saint Nicholas die?
Tradition says he died on 6 December, perhaps in 343. That is why his feast day is 6 December.
Where are the bones of Saint Nicholas?
Most of them are in the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, Italy, where they have been since 1087. Hundreds of fragments are also kept in the church of San Nicolò al Lido in Venice.
How did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus?
Dutch settlers brought Sinterklaas to New York. In the 19th century, writers and artists such as Washington Irving, the author of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and Thomas Nast turned him into the American Santa Claus.
Why do we hang up stockings at Christmas?
The custom comes from the legend of the three poor sisters. One of Nicholas’s bags of gold is said to have landed in a stocking hung by the fire to dry.
Sources
- Jona Lendering, Nicholas of Myra: Early Sources, St. Nicholas Center
- St. Nicholas Center, Three Impoverished Maidens
- St. Nicholas Center, Bari Sailors – 1087
- St. Nicholas Center, Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus
- Medievalists.net, How did a 4th-century bishop become the jolly man who comes down the chimney?
- Medievalists.net, Ancient bones could have come from man who inspired Santa Claus legend
- Library of Congress, A Visit from Santa Who You Might Not Recognize