© Getty Images

Santa Claus: Man, or myth? -

A beloved figure of Christmas cheer around the world, Santa Claus shows up in media, malls, and the imaginations of children every holiday season without fail.

© Getty Images

Santa Claus: Man, or myth? -

As most of us know, the jolly man in red is more of a group project than a single man, but where exactly did the idea come from? The answer lies in one of his other well-known monikers: Saint Nick.

© Getty Images

The real Saint Nicholas -

Saint Nicholas was just as real as a Christmas tree, and presumably he was born around March of 270 CE. Throughout his life, which ended circa 343 CE, Saint Nicholas of Myra lived a life of generosity and kindness that inspired our modern Christmas mascot.

© Getty Images

A murky history -

Very little can be said about Saint Nicholas's life with certainty, since he himself left no surviving works of writing, and he isn't mentioned in the writings of any his contemporaries. In fact, if there weren't bones in a tomb in Italy, we wouldn't have any concrete evidence that he existed at all.

© Getty Images

A murky history -

There are, however, relatively reliable accounts of his life written after his death. A number of books, almost all titled 'Life of Saint Nicholas,' along with the canonical stories of the Church, paint a picture of a probable life, if not a little bit legendary.

© Getty Images

The man from Myra -

Saint Nicholas is said to have been born in Patara, a port city in present-day Turkey that was, during Nicholas' time, a Greek city under the control of the Roman Empire.

© Getty Images

The man of Myra -

Most of the saint's time, however, was spent in the nearby town of Myra, where he is said to have performed many miracles, granting him the title Nicholas the Wonderworker.

© Getty Images

Family in high places -

Most historical works agree that Nicholas was born to a Christian family of considerable wealth and influence. By some accounts, Nicholas' uncle was the bishop of Myra, and ordained his nephew as a priest early on in life when Nicholas showed profound spiritual promise.

© Getty Images

The traveling benefactor -

Nicholas' parents died when he was a young adult, and he left his hometown behind to devote his life to Christianity and helping others.

© Public Domain

A penchant for generosity -

It soon became apparent that Nicholas was born to give, and life gave him many opportunities to do so. It was his life of gift giving and generosity that inspired later ideas of the father of Christmas, Santa Claus.

© Public Domain

The three sacks of gold -

One of Nicholas' first and most famous acts of kindness comes from a story involving the saint, a destitute father, and his three daughters. Legend has it that when Nicholas received word that the poor father couldn't afford dowries for his daughters, they would soon have to become women of the night just to get by.

© Getty Images

The three sacks of gold -

One night, Nicholas slipped a bag of gold, about a dowry's worth, through the family's window. When they woke up, the father was able to immediately marry off his first daughter, saving her from a life of prostitution. On the second night Nicholas did the same, and on the third night, the father waited up all night to find out who was enacting such kindness. When Nicholas' cover was blown, his name became synonymous with generosity.

© Getty Images

A maritime miracle -

The story of Nicholas' first miracle, the first of many, occurred when he was out at sea, on his way to the Holy Land with a group of sailors, when a terrible storm threatened to capsize the vessel. Nicholas, with the power of prayer, pushed the waves away from the ship and provided safe passage for the rest of the journey. From that moment on, until the present day, Nicholas has been considered the patron saint of sailors and travelers.

© Getty Images

The Bishop of Myra -

While Nicholas was out traveling, the former bishop of Myra, ostensibly the replacement for his uncle, had died. The other clergymen of Myra agreed that the next priest or holy man to enter their church would be named the new bishop. As luck, or the will of God, would have it, that priest was Nicholas, known from then on as Nicholas of Myra.

© Public Domain

The Diocletianic -

Despite the wide-reaching graces of Nicholas, the turn of the 4th century was a turbulent time for Christians in the Roman Empire. Initiated by Emperor Diocletian (pictured), the Diocletianic, also known as the Great Persecution, caused the deaths and suffering of innumerable Christians.

© Getty Images

The Diocletianic -

While many persecuted Christians were thrown to the beasts within the walls of Rome's many coliseums, Nicholas somehow managed to escape such a grisly fate. He was supposedly imprisoned and he was severely tortured, a theory supported by damage to his bones, but was set free by Emperor Constantine, a ruler famous for being the first Christian emperor.

© Public Domain

The rescue of the innocents -

Back out in the world. Nicholas continued to devote his life to the Church and to others, without fear of persecution or death. Another of Nicholas' most famous acts of kindness involved the lives of three innocent men.

© Getty Images

The rescue of the innocents -

Nicholas happened upon an imminent execution, and was told by God that the three men were innocent. Acting immediately, Nicholas apparently blocked the executioner's sword, freed the men, and shamed the juror who had sentenced them.

© Getty Images

The First Council of Nicaea -

One of the most important moments in the history of Christianity was the First Council of Nicaea, which occurred in 325 CE. The goal of this council, organized by Emperor Constantine, was to unite Christian beliefs across the Empire, and begin to standardize them into a single canonical law. Of course, Nicholas would never miss such an important event!

© Getty Images

The rumble in Nicaea -

During the deliberations, legend has it that Nicholas grew increasingly perturbed with Arius, the leader of the now-obsolete Arians, who argued that "the Son," Jesus, was not eternal like "the Father," God, going directly against the modern belief of the Trinity. Nicholas, always the kindest man in the room, apparently reached a boiling point and slapped Arius across the face.

© Getty Images

The children's resurrection -

Thankfully, Nicholas seemed to recover handsomely from his moment of passion in Nicaea, and was quickly back to performing miracles.

© Public Domain

The children's resurrection -

One of his most popular miracles, gruesome as it may sound today, involved the resurrection of three children who had been captured, chopped up, and pickled by an innkeeper hoping to sell the meat as ham.

© Getty Images

The wheat shipment miracle -

Around the year 311 CE, Nicholas was back in his patron city of Myra, in the midst of a terrible and destructive famine. Roman wheat ships, which had docked shortly in Myra, were convinced by Nicholas to leave some wheat for the city before heading to the capital. The sailors were, of course, worried about their weigh-in upon their arrival in Rome, but, to their surprise and thanks to Nicholas' knack for miracles, the wheat shipments weighed just as much as they did before leaving two years' worth in Myra.

© Getty Images

A saint to many -

Because of his frequent and undiscerning acts and miracles of kindness, Saint Nicholas has become the patron saint of many things, many people, and many places.

© Getty Images

A saint to many -

To name just a few, Saint Nicholas is the patron saint to travelers, children, sailors, the city of Myra, students, pawnbrokers, and repentant thieves.

© Getty Images

The saint-to-Santa pipeline -

It is obvious now that Saint Nicholas' generosity fits quite snugly in parallel to the gift-giving traditions of Santa Claus, but a 4th-century bishop is a far stretch from a fat, jolly old man who lives in the North Pole. Predictably, a bit of logical leap frog was involved.

© Getty Images

Sinterklaas -

Similar in name and in habits, Sinterklaas was the first step towards Santa Claus. In Dutch, Sinterklaas simply means "Saint Nicholas." Every December, Sinterklaas would arrive by boat, apparently from Spain, acting as the patron saint of children. Wearing bright red bishop's attire, including the red cap and coat and the wooly white beard, Sinterklaas would record in his books the rights and wrongs of all Dutch children. Many historians believe this tradition was brought directly to the United States by the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam.

© Getty Images

Father Christmas -

Father Christmas was a creation of Great Britain around the 16th century, meant to be the personification of Christmas after the Puritan Protestants took control after the civil war and abolished the Catholic holiday of Christmas. He was a generous, gift-giving character, meant to instill nostalgia in the Catholics wishing for the good old days but no longer able to openly celebrate.

© Getty Images

And, finally, Santa Claus -

An amalgamation, or evolution, of these three characters culminated into good ol' jolly Santa Claus. Different artists, poets, and companies added to the modern Santa Claus mythos over time, bringing a the essence of an ancient bishop back into our lives.

Sources: (History) (Britannica) (Catholic Online)

See also: Traditional Christmas dishes from around the world

© Getty Images