During the Christmas season, many holiday songs sing of “jolly old Saint Nicholas,” and it can often sound as if Saint Nicholas is merely another name for the fictional Santa Claus.
However, Saint Nicholas, also called Nicholas of Bari, Nicholas of Myra, and Nicholas the Wonderworker, is a real historical figure. He is referred to as Saint Nicholas because he is commemorated as a saint in both Eastern and Western Christian churches.
He is the patron saint of, among other things, sailors, merchants, repentant thieves, brewers, and children.
Very little about Nicholas’ life is known except that he was probably born circa A.D. 270 and died around the middle of the fourth century. He served as the bishop of Myra — a city located in what is now Turkey — and became celebrated for his generosity to the poor.
In the centuries following his death, many stories and legends arose about the saint. According to one of the more famous legends, Nicholas saved the daughters of a poor family from going into prostitution.
The legend states that a widowed merchant went out of business and was forced to provide for his three unmarried daughters by selling their valuables. Eventually, there was nothing left to sell, and no men would want to marry women as poor as they were.
The father worried that his daughters would be forced to enter prostitution in order to survive, but Nicholas heard of their plight. One night, he went to the family’s house and threw a bag of gold coins through their window — enough gold for the eldest daughter to have a worthy dowry.
The next night, Nicholas returned to the home and threw in a second bag of gold for the second daughter. On the third night, Nicholas went to the house again, but the father and daughters were awaiting his arrival. When Nicholas threw the third bag of gold through the window, the family ran outside to express their gratitude.
This legend is the origin of the gift-giving practice associated with the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6, but the tradition has evolved into the contemporary practice of giving presents on Christmas Day.
Another popular legend surrounding Nicholas involves the bishop reportedly striking a heretical priest at the Council of Nicaea. More on that legend can be read here.
Saint Nicholas’ association with the Santa Claus figure arose due to the poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (now more popularly known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas) published by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823.
The poem introduces much of the modern Christmas iconography that has endured to this day and describes Saint Nicholas traveling to the homes of children during the night “with the sleigh full of toys,” descending down the chimney and filling the children’s stockings with presents.
Moore’s poem launched the Santa Claus phenomenon. The Santa Claus name evolved from Nicholas’ Dutch nickname — Sinter Klass — and the rest is history.
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