1. The Nice Side of Saint Nick
Saint Nicholas lived in the Roman Empire at a time when Christianity was persecuted, with real life stakes higher than depictions on coffee cups or words used in season’s greetings. Nicholas hailed from a wealthy family, and his parents died when he was a young man and left him a considerable inheritance. He did not do what most young men would when given a lot of money. Nicholas did not party it up and splurge when he came into a huge inheritance. Instead, he used his newfound wealth to care for those in need. For instance, he helped a poor man with three daughters who could not afford a dowry. Without dowries, the girls’ father would have sold them into slavery – it was a harsh world back then.
On three occasions, a bag of gold appeared in the girls’ home, secretly tossed through a window by Nicholas, to land in a shoe or stocking left by the fireplace. His reputation as a secret gift-giver grew over time. Nicholas often deposited coins or treats in the shoes of children, who left them out for that purpose. Eventually, he became bishop of Myra at a young age. However, his bishopric was interrupted when Emperor Diocletian launched a round of Christian persecutions. Nicholas ended up exiled and imprisoned, until freed by Constantine. He lost his bishopric once again, as seen above, for punching a priest. When he wasn’t punching people in the face, however, Nicholas was a great guy. Stories of his generosity grew, entered folklore, and spread. He was canonized after his death, and became the patron saint of children, as well as the chief inspiration behind Santa Claus.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Adams, Mark – Meet Me in Atlantis: My Obsessive Quest to Find the Sunken City (2015)
Ancient Origins – The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
Archaeology Magazine, September 23rd, 1998 – King Arthur Was Real?
Atlas Obscura – Recreating King Midas’s 2700-Year-Old Feast
Baldwin, David – Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked (2010)
Callendar, Gae – The Minoans and the Mycenaeans: Aegean Society in the Bronze Age (1999)
Daily Beast – Was Santa Actually a Badass Who Beat Up a Priest?
Encyclopedia Britannica – Giles de Rais
Encyclopedia Britannica – Saint Nicholas
Federer, Kenneth L. – Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walum Olum (2010)
Fortean Times, No. 264 – The Lost Children of Hamelin
Greeka – Myth of Lost Atlantis
History Collection – Textbooks Rewritten by Governments, and Other Fake and Hidden History
Live Science – Santa Claus: The Real Man Behind the Myth
Malory, Thomas – Le Morte d Arthur, Book I
Museum of Unnatural Mystery – The Real Dracula: Vlad the Impaler
National Geographic History Magazine, February 5th, 2019 – Who Was the Real Robin Hood?
Orthodox Church in America – Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia
Storr, Jim – King Arthur’s Wars: The Anglo-Saxon Conquest of England (2016)
Theoi, Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology – Midas
Treptow, Kurt W. – Vlad III Dracula: The Life and Times of the Historical Dracula (2000)
Wolf, Leonard – Bluebeard: The Life and Times of Gilles de Rais (1980)
