Editing Saint Nicholas (section)

== Life and legends ==
=== Family and background ===
Accounts of Saint Nicholas's life agree on the essence of his story, but modern historians disagree regarding how much of this story is actually rooted in historical fact.{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=249}} Traditionally, Nicholas was born in the city of [[Patara, Lycia|Patara]] ([[Lycia et Pamphylia]]), a port on the [[Mediterranean Sea]],<ref name=" Collins, Ace 2009 121 " /> in [[Asia Minor]] in the Roman Empire, to a wealthy family of [[Greeks in Turkey#History|Greek]] Christians.{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=249}}<ref>{{cite book |author= Domenico, Roy Palmer |title= The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture |url= https://archive.org/details/regionsitalyrefe00dome |url-access= limited |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |year= 2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/regionsitalyrefe00dome/page/n36 21] |isbn= 0-313-30733-4 |quote= Saint Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) replaced Sabino as the patron saint of the city… A Greek from what is now Turkey, he lived in the early fourth century.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Burman, Edward |title= Emperor to emperor: Italy before the Renaissance |publisher= Constable |year= 1991 |page=126 |isbn= 0-09-469490-7 |quote= For although he is the patron saint of Russia, and the model for a northern invention such as Santa Claus, Nicholas of Myra was a Greek.}}</ref><ref name=" Ingram, W. Scott; Ingram, Asher 2004 24 ">{{cite book |author1=Ingram, W. Scott |author2=Ingram, Asher, Scott |author3=Robert |title= Greek Immigrants |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year= 2004 |page=24 |isbn=9780816056897 |quote=The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, was a Greek born in Asia Minor (now modern Turkey) in the fourth century. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life to Christianity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Lanzi, Gioia |title= Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images |publisher= Liturgical Press |year= 2004 |page=111 |isbn= 0-8146-2970-9 |quote= Nicholas was born around 270 AD in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey. }}</ref><ref name=" Collins, Ace 2009 121 " /> According to some accounts, his parents were named Epiphanius ({{lang|el|Ἐπιφάνιος}}, {{transliteration|el|''Epiphánios''}}) and Johanna ({{lang|el|Ἰωάννα}}, {{transliteration|el|''Iōánna''}}),<ref>{{cite book |author= Lanzi, Gioia |title= Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images |publisher= Liturgical Press |year= 2004 |page=111 |isbn= 0-8146-2970-9 |quote= Nicholas was born around 270 AD in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey; his parents were Epiphanius and Joanna. }}</ref> but, according to others, they were named Theophanes ({{lang|el|Θεοφάνης}}, {{transliteration|el|''Theophánēs''}}) and Nonna ({{lang|el|Νόννα}}, {{transliteration|el|''Nónna''}}).<ref name=" Collins, Ace 2009 121 " /> In some accounts, Nicholas's uncle was the bishop of the city of [[Myra]], also in Lycia. Recognizing his nephew's calling, Nicholas's uncle ordained him as a priest.{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}

=== Generosity and travels ===
[[File:Gentile da Fabriano 063.jpg|thumb|right|The dowry for the three virgins (Gentile da Fabriano, {{circa}} 1425, [[Pinacoteca Vaticana]], Rome)]]
After his parents died from an epidemic, Nicholas is said to have distributed their wealth to the poor.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}} In his most famous exploit,<ref>{{cite book |first=William J. |last=Bennett |title=The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas|publisher=Howard Books |year=2009 |pages=14–17 |isbn=978-1-4165-6746-2 |author-link= William Bennett }}</ref> which is first attested in Michael the Archimandrite's ''Life of Saint Nicholas'', Nicholas heard of a devout man who had once been wealthy but had lost all of his money due to the "plotting and envy of [[Satan]]."{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}<ref name="Michael10–11">Michael the Archimandrite, ''[http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ Life of Saint Nicholas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703051940/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ |date=3 July 2018 }}'' Chapters 10–11</ref> The man could not afford proper [[dowry|dowries]] for his three daughters.<ref name="Michael10–11"/>{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}{{efn|Joe L. Wheeler and Jona Lendering both note that the legends of Saint Nicholas are filled with sets of three, which may be symbolic for Nicholas's vehement defense of the [[Holy Trinity]].{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=38}}{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}}} This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, be forced to become prostitutes.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref name="Michael10–11"/> Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but, being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw a [[money purse|purse]] filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}} The father immediately arranged a marriage for his first daughter, and after her wedding, Nicholas threw a second bag of gold through the same window late at night.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref name="Michael12–18">Michael the Archimandrite, [http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ ''Life of Saint Nicholas''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703051940/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ |date=3 July 2018 }} (Chapters 12–18)</ref>

According to Michael the Archimandrite's account, after the second daughter was married, the father stayed awake for at least two "nights" and caught Saint Nicholas in the same act of charity toward the third daughter.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref name="Michael16–18">Michael the Archimandrite, [http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ ''Life of Saint Nicholas''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703051940/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ |date=3 July 2018 }} (Chapters 16–18)</ref> The father fell on his knees, thanking him, and Nicholas ordered him not to tell anyone about the gifts.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref name="Michael16–18"/> The scene of Nicholas's secret gift-giving is one of the most popular scenes in Christian devotional art, appearing in icons and frescoes from across Europe. Although depictions vary depending on time and place,{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=1}} Nicholas is often shown wearing a [[cowl]] while the daughters are typically shown in bed, dressed in their nightclothes. Many renderings contain a [[cypress]] tree or a cross-shaped [[cupola]].{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=1}}

The historicity of this incident is disputed.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} Adam C. English argues for a historical kernel to the legend, noting the story's early attestation as well as the fact that no similar stories were told about any other Christian saints.{{sfn|English|Crumm|2012}} Jona Lendering, who also argues for the story's authenticity, notes that a similar story is told in Philostratus's ''Life of Apollonius of Tyana'', in which Apollonius gives money to an impoverished father but posits that Michael the Archimandrite's account is markedly different.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} Philostratus does not mention the fate of the daughters and, in his story, Apollonius's generosity is purely motivated out of sympathy for the father; in Michael the Archimandrite's account, however, Saint Nicholas is instead expressly stated to be motivated by a desire to save the daughters from being sold into prostitution.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} He argues that this desire to help women is most characteristic of fourth-century Christianity, due to the prominent role women played in the early Christian movement, rather than Greco-Roman paganism or the Christianity of Michael the Archimandrite's time in the ninth century, by which point the position of women had drastically declined.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}

Nicholas is also said to have visited the [[Holy Land]]. The ship he was on was nearly destroyed by a terrible storm but he rebuked the waves, causing the storm to subside. Thus, Nicholas became venerated as the patron saint of sailors and travelers.{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}

While in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], Nicholas is said to have lived in a crypt near [[Bethlehem]], where the [[Nativity of Jesus]] is believed to have taken place. Over the crypt where Nicholas is believed to have lived now stands the "Church of Saint Nicholas" in [[Beit Jala]], a Christian town of which Nicholas is the [[Patron saint]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stories from Beit Jala |url=https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/stories-legends/modern-miracles/miracles-palestine/beit-jala-stories |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=St. Nicholas Center |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Church of Saint Nicholas – Beit Jala |url=https://visitpalestine.ps/where-to-go/listing/bethlehem/sites-attractions-bethlehem/christian-sites-bethlehem/st-nicholas-church-beit-jala/}}</ref>

===Bishop of Myra===
[[File:Ilja Jefimowitsch Repin - Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocents from death.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|''[[Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocents from death]]'' (1888) by [[Ilya Repin]]]]
After visiting the Holy Land, Nicholas returned to Myra. The bishop of Myra, who had succeeded Nicholas's uncle, had recently died{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}} and the priests in the city had decided that the first priest to enter the church that morning would be made bishop. Nicholas went to the church to pray{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}} and was therefore proclaimed the new bishop.{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=249}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref>{{cite book |author= Faber, Paul |title=Sinterklaas overseas: the adventures of a globetrotting saint |publisher= KIT Publishers |year=2006 |page=7 |isbn=9789068324372 |quote=The historical figure that served as model for the Dutch Sinterklaas was born around 270 AD in the port of Patara in the Greek province of Lycia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). His Greek name Nikolaos means something along the lines of "victor of the people". }}</ref> He is said to have been [[Confessor of the Faith|imprisoned and tortured]] during the [[Great Persecution]] under the Emperor [[Diocletian]] (ruled 284–305),{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|pages=249–250}}{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}} but was released under the orders of the Emperor [[Constantine the Great]] (ruled 306–337).{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=250}} This story sounds plausible, but is not attested in the earliest sources and is therefore unlikely to be historical.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}}

One of the earliest attested stories of Saint Nicholas is one in which he saves three innocent men from execution.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=38}}<ref name="Michael31">Michael the Archimandrite, [http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ ''Life of Saint Nicholas''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703051940/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ |date=3 July 2018 }} (Chapter 31)</ref> According to Michael the Archimandrite, three innocent men were condemned to death by the governor Eustathius. As they were about to be executed, Nicholas appeared, pushed the executioner's sword to the ground, released them from their chains, and angrily chastised a juror who had accepted a bribe.<ref name="Michael31"/> According to Jona Lendering, this story directly parallels an earlier story in Philostratus's ''Life of Apollonius of Tyana'', in which Apollonius prevents the execution of a man falsely condemned of banditry.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} Michael the Archimandrite also tells another story in which the consul [[Ablabius (consul)|Ablabius]] accepted a bribe to put three famous generals to death, in spite of their actual innocence.<ref name="Michael33">Michael the Archimandrite, [http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ ''Life of Saint Nicholas''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703051940/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/michael-the-archimandrite/ |date=3 July 2018 }} (Chapter 33)</ref> Saint Nicholas appeared to Constantine and Ablabius in dreams, informing Constantine of the truth and frightening Ablabius into releasing the generals, for fear of [[Hell]].<ref name="Michael33"/>

Later versions of the story are more elaborate, interweaving the two stories together. According to one version, Emperor Constantine sent three of his most trusted generals, named Ursos, Nepotianos, and Herpylion, to put down a rebellion in [[Phrygia]]. However, a storm forced them to take refuge in Myra.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=38}} Unbeknownst to the generals, who were in the harbor, their soldiers further inland were fighting with local merchants and engaging in looting and destruction. Nicholas confronted the generals for allowing their soldiers to misbehave and the generals brought an end to the looting.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|pages=38–39}} Immediately after the soldiers had returned to their ships, Nicholas heard word of the three innocent men about to be executed and the three generals aided him in stopping the execution. Eustathius attempted to flee on his horse but Nicholas stopped his horse and chastised him for his corruption.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|pages=39–40}} Eustathius, under the threat of being reported directly to the Emperor, repented of his corrupt ways.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=40}} Afterward, the generals succeeded in ending the rebellion and were promoted by Constantine to even higher status.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=40}} The generals' enemies, however, slandered them to the consul Ablabius, telling him that they had not really put down the revolt, but instead encouraged their own soldiers to join it. The generals' enemies also bribed Ablabius and he had the three generals imprisoned. Nicholas then made his dream appearances and the three generals were set free.{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|pages=40–41}}

=== Council of Nicaea ===
[[File:Saint Nicholas of Myra slapping Arius at the Council of Nicaea Greek Icon.jpg|thumb|Detail of a late medieval [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]] fresco showing Saint Nicholas slapping [[Arius]] at the [[First Council of Nicaea]]]]

In 325, Nicholas is said to have attended the [[First Council of Nicaea]],{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=250}}{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}<ref>Wheeler & Rosenthal, "St Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas", (Chapter 1), Nelson Reference & Electronic, 2005</ref> where he is said to have been a staunch opponent of [[Arianism]] and a devoted supporter of [[Trinitarianism]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Federer, William J. |title=There Really Is a Santa Claus – History of St. Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions |publisher=Amerisearch, Inc. |year=2002 |page=26 |isbn=978-0965355742}}</ref> and one of the bishops who signed the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="Davis, Leo Donald; 1990 58">{{cite book |author=Davis, Leo Donald |title=The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787) Their History and Theology |publisher=Liturgical Press |year=1990 |page=[https://archive.org/details/firstsevenec_davi_1990_000_6702418/page/n61 58] |isbn=0-8146-5616-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/firstsevenec_davi_1990_000_6702418 |url-access=limited }}</ref> Nicholas's attendance at the Council of Nicaea is attested early by Theodore the Lector's list of attendees, which records him as the 151st attendee.{{sfn|Blacker|Burgess|Ogden|2013|page=250}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=ix}} However, he is conspicuously never mentioned by [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], the foremost defender of Trinitarianism at the council, who knew all the notable bishops of the period,{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=xii}} nor is he mentioned by the historian [[Eusebius]], who was also present at the council.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=14}} Adam C. English notes that lists of the attendees at Nicaea vary considerably, with shorter lists only including roughly 200 names, but longer lists including around 300. Saint Nicholas's name only appears on the longer lists, not the shorter ones.{{sfn|English|Crumm|2012}} Nicholas's name appears on a total of three early lists, one of which, Theodore the Lector, is generally considered to be the most accurate. According to Jona Lendering, there are two main possibilities:
# Nicholas ''did not'' attend the Council of Nicaea, but someone at an early date was baffled that his name was not listed and so added him to the list.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} Many scholars tend to favor this explanation.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=93}}{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}}
# Nicholas ''did'' attend the Council of Nicaea, but, at an early date, someone decided to remove his name from the list, apparently deciding that it was better if no one remembered he had been there.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}}

A later legend, first attested in the fourteenth century, over 1,000 years after Nicholas's death, holds that, during the Council of Nicaea, Nicholas lost his temper and slapped "a certain Arian" across the face. On account of this, Constantine revoked Nicholas's [[Mitre|miter]] and [[pallium]].{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}} Steven D. Greydanus concludes that, because of the story's late attestation, it "has no historical value."{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}} Jona Lendering, however, defends the veracity and historicity of the incident, arguing that, [[Criterion of embarrassment|as it was embarrassing]] and reflects poorly on Nicholas's reputation, it is inexplicable why later hagiographers would have invented it.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Nicholas of Myra}} Later versions of the legend embellish it, making the heretic [[Arius]] himself{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=35}} and having Nicholas punch him rather than merely slapping him with his open hand. In these versions of the story, Nicholas is also imprisoned,{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=35}} but Christ and the Virgin Mary appear to him in his cell.{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=35}} He tells them he is imprisoned "for loving you" and they free him from his chains and restore his vestments.{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2010|page=35}} The scene of Nicholas slapping Arius is celebrated in Eastern Orthodox icons{{sfn|Greydanus|2016}} and episodes of Saint Nicholas at Nicaea are shown in a series of paintings from the 1660s in the [[Basilica di San Nicola]] in [[Bari]].{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=93}}

=== Other reputed miracles ===
[[File:Saint Nicolas Heures d'Anne de Bretagne.jpg|thumb|Illustration of Saint Nicholas resurrecting the three butchered children from the ''[[Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany|Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne]]'' (created between 1503 and 1508)]]
One story tells how during a terrible famine, a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he killed them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham.{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=409|title=St. Nicholas Center: Saint Nicolas|website=stnicholascenter.org|access-date=22 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205211459/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=409|archive-date=5 December 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, saw through the butcher's lies and resurrected the pickled children by making the [[sign of the cross]].{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}{{sfn|English|2016|page=132}} Jona Lendering opines that the story is "without any historical value".{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} Adam C. English notes that the story of the resurrection of the pickled children is a late medieval addition to the legendary biography of Saint Nicholas and that it is not found in any of his earliest ''Lives''.{{sfn|English|Crumm|2012}} Although this story seems bizarre and horrifying to modern audiences, it was tremendously popular throughout the [[Late Middle Ages]] and the [[early modern period]], and widely beloved by ordinary folk.{{sfn|English|2016|page=132}}{{sfn|Ferguson|1976|page=136}}{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} It is depicted in stained glass windows, wood panel paintings, tapestries, and frescoes. Eventually, the scene became so widely reproduced that, rather than showing the whole scene, artists began to merely depict Saint Nicholas with three naked children and a wooden barrel at his feet.{{sfn|English|2016|page=132}}

According to English, eventually, people who had forgotten or never learned the story began misinterpreting representations of it. That Saint Nicholas was shown with children led people to conclude he was the patron saint of children; meanwhile, the fact that he was shown with a barrel led people to conclude that he was the patron saint of brewers.{{sfn|English|2016|pages=132–133}}

According to another story, during a great famine that Myra experienced in 311–312, a ship was in the port at anchor, loaded with wheat for the emperor in Constantinople. Nicholas invited the sailors to unload a part of the wheat to help in the time of need. The sailors at first disliked the request, because the wheat had to be weighed accurately and delivered to the emperor. Only when Nicholas promised them that they would not suffer any loss for their consideration did the sailors agree. When they arrived later in the capital, they made a surprising find: the weight of the load had not changed, although the wheat removed in Myra was enough for two full years and could even be used for sowing.<ref>{{cite book|title=A companion to Wace |first=Françoise Hazel Marie |last=Le Saux |publisher=D.S. Brewer |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84384-043-5 }}</ref>