The jolly old man with white whiskers who brings children toys in his sack at Christmas time had his origins in the popular St Nicholas(4th-5th Century A.D.), the patron saint of school-children and sailors.
Little is known about the life of St Nicholas, but it is probable that he was bishop of Myra in Lycia(Asia Minor). The earliest miracle attributed to him was the rescue of three army officers who were unjustly condemned to death but saved by St Nicholas’s appearance in a dream to ConstantineⅠ.
In the 17th Century the Dutch Protestant settlers in New Amsterdam(now New York) replaced St Nicholas by a generous magician called Santa Claus (known as Sinter Claes in Dutch). Gradually, this transformation spread to many countries in Europe, especially those where the Reformed churches were dominant. The kind old man was also given the names of Father Christmas and Father January, and his special day became either December 25 or New Year’s Day |
