GiveA bishop of Myra
Saint Nicholas was bishop of Myra, in Lycia, in the 4th century. Myra is now called Demre: a small town on the Mediterranean, in the south of Turkey.
Documents from his time are rare, and many stories about his life were written much later. According to tradition, he was born in Patara, a nearby town, and died on 6 December. That is the day he has been celebrated for centuries.
Gold given in secret
His most famous legend tells of a very poor man who had nothing to give his three daughters so they could marry. One night, Nicholas is said to have thrown a purse of gold into the house without being seen. Then a second, and a third.
This is where the idea of a gift brought at night, in secret, expecting nothing in return, comes from. It is also why he is often shown with three golden balls.
The protector of children
In the Middle Ages, another legend spread: Nicholas was said to have saved three children in great danger. He became the patron saint of children and schoolchildren, and of sailors too.
Little by little, 6 December became a feast when children received small gifts in his name. It is the direct ancestor of today's Saint Nicholas Day.
From Myra to Bari
In 1087, sailors from Bari, in Italy, carried his relics away from Myra. They still rest in the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, where pilgrims from all over the world still come today.
In 2017, researchers at the University of Oxford dated a small bone fragment attributed to the saint: it does go back to the 4th century, the time of Nicholas.
In our countries
Since the Middle Ages, a relic of Saint Nicholas has been kept at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, in Lorraine, where he is the patron saint of the region.
In Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the north and east of France, the tradition is still very much alive: children put out a shoe by the fireplace, with a carrot for the donkey or the horse, and Saint Nicholas comes by during the night.
And Santa Claus?
Dutch families who settled in New York brought their Sinterklaas with them. In 1809, the writer Washington Irving featured him in a book about the city. In 1823, a poem gave him a sleigh and reindeer, and later Thomas Nast's drawings gave him his round, jolly look.
The name Santa Claus simply comes from Sinterklaas.
Even today, Saint Nicholas remains the saint of quiet generosity: giving joy without expecting anything in return.