St. Nicholas
There was a real one. He was a bishop, and he had a temper.
Nicholas was a bishop in what is now Turkey, about seventeen hundred years ago. He inherited money young and spent his life getting rid of it, usually at night, usually without telling anyone it was him.
The story that started everything: a father with three daughters was too poor to keep them, and on three separate nights a bag of gold came in through the window. The third time, the man stayed up to catch whoever it was. Some versions have the gold landing in shoes left by the fire, which is why children across much of Europe still put their shoes out on the night of December 5.
He was also at the Council of Nicaea, and there is a stubborn story that he lost his temper there and slapped a man mid-argument. True or not, it is a useful correction. The real Nicholas was not a jolly man in a chair. He was a bishop who gave away everything he had and would not let anyone thank him for it.
St. Nicholas facts for kids
- Santa Claus comes from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for him
- In much of Europe children leave shoes out on December 5, not stockings on the 24th
- Patron of pawnbrokers. The three gold balls on pawn shops are his three bags of gold.
- He's also patron of sailors, and of Greece and Russia
Feast day: December 6 · Patron of children, sailors, and pawnbrokers
St. Nicholas, help me give something away without telling anyone.
The longer story
We wrote a whole post about St. Nicholas, with more of the story than fits on one page.
St. Nicholas: The Real Santa Claus