104-467: The following cathedrals, churches and chapels are dedicated to Saint Nicholas : Ygyvtfybuvt7x8t9yv9yff9yv8yc6es77gckhcz Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari , was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province , Turkey ) during
208-430: 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 . The historicity of this incident is disputed. 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. Jona Lendering, who also argues for
312-464: A lost Life of Saint Nicholas as his source. Nearly all the sources Eustratius references date from the late fourth century to early fifth century, indicating the Life of Saint Nicholas to which he refers was probably written during this time period, shortly after Nicholas's death. The earliest complete account of Nicholas's life that has survived to the present is a Life of Saint Nicholas , written in
416-484: A bribe to put three famous generals to death, in spite of their actual innocence. 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 . 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
520-515: A man in Christ, and the other rejected the title, based on God being eternal and thus could not be born. Nestorius' compromise, the title Christotokos ("birth-giver of Christ"), was rejected; he was accused of separating Christ's divine and human natures, resulting in "two Christs", in a doctrine later called Nestorianism . Nestorius was strongly opposed by Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria and eventually lost Theodosius's support. At Nestorius's request,
624-574: A new church, the Basilica di San Nicola, to Saint Nicholas in Bari. The Pope himself personally placed Nicholas's relics into the tomb beneath the altar of the new church. The removal of Saint Nicholas's relics from Myra and their arrival in Bari is reliably recorded by multiple chroniclers, including Orderic Vitalis and 9 May continued to be celebrated every year by western Christians as the day of Nicholas's "translation". Eastern Orthodox Christians and
728-405: A part of Nicholas' relic as a gift. Whereas the devotional importance of relics and the economics associated with pilgrimages caused the remains of most saints to be divided up and spread over numerous churches in several countries, Saint Nicholas is unusual in that most of his bones have been preserved in one spot: his grave crypt in Bari. Even with the allegedly continuing miracle of the manna,
832-570: A particular individual. Among ancient and medieval writers, Monophysites had a favorable opinion of Theodosius. In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople with 31 chairs (15 in Latin and 16 in Greek). Among the subjects were law, philosophy, medicine, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music and rhetoric. It is likely that his wife Eudocia encouraged him in this matter and was behind
936-549: A rebellion in Phrygia . However, a storm forced them to take refuge in Myra. 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. Immediately after the soldiers had returned to their ships, Nicholas heard word of
1040-761: A result of this, Nicholas became the patron saint of prisoners and those falsely accused of crimes. An index finger claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas was kept in a chapel along the Ostian Way in Rome. Another finger was held in Ventimiglia in Liguria . Today, many churches in Europe, Russia, and the United States claim to possess small relics, such as a tooth or a finger bone. An Irish tradition states that
1144-625: A second commission that met in Constantinople, assigned to collect all of the general legislations and bring them up to date, was completed; their collection was published as the Codex Theodosianus in 438. The law code of Theodosius II, summarizing edicts promulgated since Constantine, formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I , the Corpus Juris Civilis , in the following century. Eudocia reached
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#17327726249321248-533: A source written before conversion narratives became popular, which would be a positive indication of that source's reliability. He notes that many of the stories recounted by Michael the Archimandrite closely resemble stories told about the first-century AD Neopythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana , an eight-volume biography of him written in the early third century by
1352-572: A staunch opponent of Arianism and a devoted supporter of Trinitarianism , and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed . 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. However, he is conspicuously never mentioned by Athanasius of Alexandria , the foremost defender of Trinitarianism at
1456-442: 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. 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 . Jona Lendering opines that the story is "without any historical value". Adam C. English notes that
1560-565: 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: 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 miter and pallium . Steven D. Greydanus concludes that, because of
1664-498: A tree possessed by a demon. In his youth, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Egypt and Syria Palaestina . Shortly after his return, he became Bishop of Myra . He was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian , but was released after the accession of Constantine . An early list makes him an attendee at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he is never mentioned in any writings by people who were at
1768-723: Is actually rooted in historical fact. Traditionally, Nicholas was born in the city of Patara ( Lycia et Pamphylia ), a port on the Mediterranean Sea , in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire, to a wealthy family of Greek Christians. According to some accounts, his parents were named Epiphanius ( Ἐπιφάνιος , Epiphánios ) and Johanna ( Ἰωάννα , Iōánna ), but, according to others, they were named Theophanes ( Θεοφάνης , Theophánēs ) and Nonna ( Νόννα , Nónna ). In some accounts, Nicholas's uncle
1872-665: Is assumed that his sister continued to exert an influence on him until his marriage. In June 421, Theodosius married Aelia Eudocia , a woman of Athenian origin. The two had a daughter named Licinia Eudoxia , another named Flaccilla, and possibly a son called Arcadius. In 423, the Western Emperor Honorius , Theodosius's uncle, died and the primicerius notariorum Joannes was proclaimed emperor. Honorius's sister Galla Placidia and her young son Valentinian , who had earlier fled to Constantinople to escape Honorius's hostility, sought Eastern assistance to claim
1976-460: Is assumed to be inconclusive, Antiochus , a eunuch of Persian origin, became a tutor and an influence on Theodosius. He also became praepositus sacri cubiculi later but Theodosius dismissed him when he reached his adulthood. In 414, Theodosius's older sister Pulcheria vowed perpetual virginity along with her sisters. She was proclaimed augusta , and acted as a guardian of her brother. The guardianship ended when he reached his majority, but it
2080-585: Is celebrated on almost every Thursday of the year (together with the Apostles ) with special hymns to him which are found in the liturgical book known as the Octoechos . Soon after the transfer of Saint Nicholas's relics from Myra to Bari, an East Slavic version of his Life and an account of the transfer of his relics were written by a contemporary to this event. Devotional akathists and canons have been composed in his honour, and are frequently chanted by
2184-402: Is not attested in the earliest sources and is therefore unlikely to be historical. One of the earliest attested stories of Saint Nicholas is one in which he saves three innocent men from execution. 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
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#17327726249322288-556: Is not mentioned by any contemporary chroniclers. This is not surprising, since Nicholas lived during a turbulent time in Roman history . The earliest mentions of Saint Nicholas indicate that, by the sixth century, his following was already well-established. Less than two hundred years after Saint Nicholas's probable death, the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II (ruled 401–450) ordered the building of
2392-533: Is now known as "Saint Nicolas de Port" in honor of Nicholas. The clergy at Bari strategically gave away samples of Nicholas's bones to promote the following and enhance its prestige. Many of these bones were initially kept in Constantinople, but, after the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade , these fragments were scattered across western Europe. A hand claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas
2496-446: Is said that, in Myra, the relics of Saint Nicholas each year exuded a clear watery liquid which smelled like rose water, called manna , or myrrh , which was believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers. As it was widely known that all Nicholas's relics were at Myra in their sealed sarcophagus, it was rare during this period for forgers of relics to claim to possess those belonging to Saint Nicholas. A solemn bronze statue of
2600-590: The Church of Saint Nicholas in Myra , which thereby preserves an early mention of his name. The Byzantine historian Procopius also mentions that the Emperor Justinian I (ruled 527–565) renovated churches in Constantinople dedicated to Saint Nicholas and Saint Priscus , which may have originally been built as early as c. 490. Nicholas's name also occurs as "Nicholas of Myra of Lycia" on
2704-577: The First Crusade . Although the Crusaders generally favored warrior saints, which Saint Nicholas was not, the presence of his relics in Bari made him materially accessible. Nicholas's associations with aiding travelers and seafarers also made him a popular choice for veneration. Nicholas's veneration by Crusaders helped promote his following throughout western Europe. After the relics were brought to Bari, they continued to produce "myrrh", much to
2808-677: The Huns . Early in Theodosius II's reign Romans used internal Hun discord to overcome Uldin 's invasion of the Balkans. The Romans strengthened their fortifications and in 424 agreed to pay 350 pounds of gold to encourage the Huns to remain at peace with the Romans. In 433 with the rise of Attila and Bleda to unify the Huns, the payment was doubled to 700 pounds. Theodosius became engaged with
2912-629: 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 . After visiting the Holy Land, Nicholas returned to Myra. The bishop of Myra, who had succeeded Nicholas's uncle, had recently died and the priests in the city had decided that
3016-534: The archdiocese of Bari has allowed for one scientific survey of the bones. In the late 1950s, while the crypt was undergoing much-needed restoration, the bones were removed from it for the first time since their interment in 1089. A special Pontiffical Commission permitted Luigi Martino, a professor of human anatomy at the University of Bari , to examine the bones under the commission's supervision. Martino took thousands of measurements, detailed scientific drawings, photographs, and x-rays. These examinations revealed
3120-622: The praetorian prefect Anthemius , under whose supervision the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople were constructed. According to Theophanes the Confessor and Procopius , the Sasanian king Yazdegerd I (399–420) was appointed by Arcadius as the guardian of Theodosius, whom Yazdegerd treated as his own child, sending a tutor to raise him and warning that enmity toward him would be taken as enmity toward Persia. Though this story
3224-426: The "plotting and envy of Satan ." The man could not afford proper dowries for his three daughters. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, be forced to become prostitutes. 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
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3328-423: The Archimandrite's Life the only account of Saint Nicholas that is likely to contain any historical truth. Jona Lendering , a Dutch historian of classical antiquity, notes that Michael the Archimandrite's Life does not contain a " conversion narrative ", which was unusual for saints' lives of the period when it was written. He therefore argues that it is possible Michael the Archimandrite may have been relying on
3432-487: 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. 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
3536-819: The Catholic Church in the West had declared (in 1054 AD) that the Greek church , the official church of the Byzantine Empire, was in schism . Because of the many wars in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult. Taking advantage of the confusion and the loss by the Greek Christian community of Myra of its Byzantine imperial protection, in the spring of 1087, Italian sailors from Bari in Apulia seized part of
3640-488: The Greek writer Philostratus . Christian storytellers were known to adapt older pagan legends and attribute them to Christian saints. As Apollonius's hometown of Tyana was not far from Myra, Lendering contends that many popular stories about Apollonius may have become attached to Saint Nicholas. Accounts of Saint Nicholas's life agree on the essence of his story, but modern historians disagree regarding how much of this story
3744-429: The Huns. Anatolius negotiated a peace agreement; the Huns withdrew in exchange for humiliating concessions, including an annual tribute of 2,100 Roman pounds (c. 687 kg) of gold. In 447 the Huns went through the Balkans, destroying among others the city of Serdica ( Sofia ) and reaching Athyra ( Büyükçekmece ) on the outskirts of Constantinople. In 449, an Eastern Roman attempt to assassinate Attila failed, however
3848-730: The Julian Calendar's 6 December and Gregorian Calendar's 19 December. Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day , 6 December. For those who still observe the Julian calendar the celebration currently takes place thirteen days later than it happens in the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar . Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Θεοδόσιος Theodosios ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450)
3952-620: The Norman knight William Pantulf . Pantulf took these relics to his hometown of Noron in Normandy, where they were placed in the local Church of St. Peter in June 1092. In 1096, the duke of Apulia gave several bones of Saint Nicholas to the count of Flanders , which he then enshrined in the Abbey of Watten . According to legend, in 1101, Saint Nicholas appeared in a vision to a French clerk visiting
4056-571: The Persian persecution of Christians, and the Eastern empire declared war against the Sassanids (421–422); the war ended in an indecisive stalemate, when the Romans were forced to accept peace as the Huns menaced Constantinople . Peace was arranged in 422 without changes to the status quo . The later wars of Theodosius were generally less successful. The Eastern Empire was plagued by raids by
4160-723: The Turks have both long regarded the unauthorized removal of the relics from Myra as a blatant theft, but the people of Bari have instead maintained that it was a rescue mission to save the bones from the Turkish invaders. A legend, shown on the ceiling of the Basilica di San Nicola, holds that Nicholas once visited Bari and predicted that his bones would one day rest there. Prior to the translation of Nicholas's relics to Bari, his following had been known in western Europe, but it had not been extremely popular. In autumn of 1096, Norman and Frankish soldiers mustered in Bari in preparation for
4264-584: The affairs of the West after installing Valentinian III as his Western counterpart. When Roman Africa fell to the Vandals in 439, both Eastern and Western Emperors sent forces to Sicily , intending to launch an attack on the Vandals at Carthage, but this project failed. Seeing the borders without significant forces, the Huns and Sassanid Persia both attacked and the expeditionary force had to be recalled. During 443 two Roman armies were defeated and destroyed by
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4368-484: The bone they tested comes from the left pubis , and the only pelvis bone in the collection at Bari is the left ilium . In the absence of DNA testing, however, it is not yet possible to know for certain whether the pelvis is from the same man. Among Greeks and Italians he is a favorite of sailors, fishermen , ships and sailing. As a result, and over time, he has become the patron saint of several cities which maintain harbours . In centuries of Greek folklore , Nicholas
4472-567: The bronze statue was returned (albeit without its original high pedestal) to a corner nearer the church. On 28 December 2009, the Turkish government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of Saint Nicholas's skeletal remains to Turkey from the Italian government. Turkish authorities asserted that Nicholas himself desired to be buried at his episcopal town, and that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland. In 2017, an archaeological survey at St. Nicholas Church, Demre
4576-459: The church without authorization and brought them to their hometown, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola . The remaining bone fragments from the sarcophagus were later removed by Venetian sailors and taken to Venice during the First Crusade . Very little is known about Saint Nicholas's historical life. Any writings Nicholas himself may have produced have been lost and he
4680-405: 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. In 325, Nicholas is said to have attended the First Council of Nicaea , where he is said to have been
4784-460: The council the "robber synod". Theodosius supported the outcome, but it was reversed by the Council of Chalcedon after his death in 450. Theodosius died on 28 July 450 as the result of falling off his horse. On 25 November, his sister Pulcheria married the newly elected emperor Marcian , a domesticus under the influential general Aspar . The eunuch Chrysaphius was executed shortly after by
4888-425: The council, who knew all the notable bishops of the period, nor is he mentioned by the historian Eusebius , who was also present at the council. 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. Nicholas's name appears on
4992-465: The council. Late, unsubstantiated legends claim that he was temporarily defrocked and imprisoned during the council for slapping the heretic Arius . Another famous late legend tells how he resurrected three children, who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork during a famine. Fewer than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under
5096-582: The crypt underneath the Basilica di San Nicola was dedicated as an Orthodox chapel with an iconostasis in commemoration of the recent lifting of the anathemas the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches had issued against each other during the Great Schism in 1054. In May 2017, following talks between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a portion of the relics of St. Nicholas in Bari were sent on loan to Moscow. The relic
5200-419: The earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. Other early stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution, and chopping down
5304-445: The early ninth century by Michael the Archimandrite (814–842), nearly 500 years after Nicholas's probable death. Despite its extremely late date, Michael the Archimandrite's Life of Saint Nicholas is believed to heavily rely on older written sources and oral traditions. The identity and reliability of these sources, however, remains uncertain. Catholic historian D. L. Cann and medievalist Charles W. Jones both consider Michael
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#17327726249325408-673: The emperor convened the First Council of Ephesus in 431 to allow Nestorius to contest Cyril's accusations of heresy. The council was divided between the Cyrillians and the Nestorians, with Theodosius ultimately favoring the Cyrillians. The council affirmed the title Theotokos and condemned Nestorius, who returned to his monastery in Syria and was eventually exiled to a remote monastery in Egypt. Constantinopolitan abbot Eutyches reignited
5512-484: The enormous apple. The emperor was enraged and suspected an affair between Eudocia and Paulinus; he had his lifelong friend Paulinus executed, and Eudocia asked to be exiled to Jerusalem. A separation ultimately occurred between the imperial couple around 443, with Eudocia's establishment in Jerusalem where she favored monastic Monophysitism . The situation between the Romans and the Sassanids deteriorated in 420 due to
5616-526: The establishment of the university; she had been born in Athens, where the Neoplatonic School of Athens was the last great center for pagan, classical learning. Eudocia was known for her great intellect. In 429, Theodosius appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I , and create a fully formalized system of law. This plan was left unfinished, but the work of
5720-400: The fact that Nicholas had a tomb that could be visited serves as the almost solitary definitive proof that he was a real historical figure. In his treatise De statu animarum post mortem (written c. 583), the theologian Eustratius of Constantinople cites Saint Nicholas of Myra's miracle of the three generals as evidence that souls may work independent from the body. Eustratius credits
5824-417: The fact that he was shown with a barrel led people to conclude that he was the patron saint of brewers. 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
5928-772: The faithful as they ask for his intercession . He is mentioned in the Liturgy of Preparation during the Divine Liturgy (Eastern Orthodox Eucharist ) and during the All-Night Vigil . Many Orthodox churches will have his icon , even if they are not named after him. In Oriental Orthodoxy , the Coptic Church observes the Departure of St. Nicholas on 10 Kiahk, or 10 Taḫśaś in Ethiopia, which corresponds to
6032-670: The first priest to enter the church that morning would be made bishop. Nicholas went to the church to pray and was therefore proclaimed the new bishop. He is said to have been imprisoned and tortured during the Great Persecution under the Emperor Diocletian (ruled 284–305), but was released under the orders of the Emperor Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337). This story sounds plausible, but
6136-462: The ground, released them from their chains, and angrily chastised a juror who had accepted a bribe. 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. Michael the Archimandrite also tells another story in which the consul Ablabius accepted
6240-500: The height of her influence with the emperor from 439 to 441, a period in which the emperor's sister Pulcheria was sidelined in favor of his wife. Eudocia's power was undone by a certain Phrygian apple in a story conveyed by the sixth-century historian John Malalas of Antioch. Malalas wrote that one day, the emperor was on his way to church when a man presented the emperor with an "apple huge beyond any exaggeration." The emperor thanked
6344-460: The house under the cover of night and threw a purse filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house. 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. 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
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#17327726249326448-462: The island was known as "Saint Nicholas Island" and today it is known in Turkish as Gemiler Adasi, meaning "Island of Boats", in reference to Saint Nicholas's traditional role as the patron saint of seafarers. The church was built in the fourth century, around the time of Nicholas's death, and is typical of saints' shrines from that time period. Nicholas was the only major saint associated with that part of Turkey. The church where historians believe he
6552-438: The joy of their new owners. Vials of myrrh from his relics have been taken all over the world for centuries, and can still be obtained from his church in Bari. Even up to the present day, a flask of manna is extracted from the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year on 6 December (the Saint's feast day ) by the clergy of the basilica. The myrrh is collected from a sarcophagus which is located in the basilica vault and could be obtained in
6656-505: The man with 150 solidi , and promptly sent the apple to his wife as a present. Eudocia decided to give the apple to Paulinus, a friend of both her and the emperor. Paulinus, unknowing of where Eudocia had gotten the apple, thought it was fit for only the emperor, and gave it to him. Theodosius was suspicious, and asked Eudocia what she had done with the apple. "I ate it," she replied, and then Theodosius asked her to confirm her answer with an oath, which she did. Theodosius then presented her with
6760-424: The ninth century, by which point the position of women had drastically declined. 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. While in Palestine , Nicholas is said to have lived in a crypt near Bethlehem , where
6864-451: The orders of Theodosius II over the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church. In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks , and soon after the beginning of the East–West schism , a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in
6968-475: The relations between the two did not deteriorate further. Theodosius frequently attempted to resolve doctrinal controversies regarding the nature of Christ . During a visit to Syria , Theodosius met the monk Nestorius , a renowned preacher. Nestorius was appointed as archbishop of Constantinople in 428 and became involved in a Christology dispute between two groups. One group called the Virgin Mary Theotokos ("birth-giver of God"), based on God being born
7072-488: The relics of Saint Nicholas are also reputed to have been stolen from Myra by local Norman crusading knights in the twelfth century and buried near Thomastown , County Kilkenny , where a stone slab marks the site locally believed to be his grave. According to the Irish antiquarian John Hunt , the tomb probably actually belongs to a local priest from Jerpoint Abbey . Russian Orthodox Church announced on 22 September 2024 that Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral in Baku received
7176-400: The relics the team has examined turn out to be too recent to have actually belonged to the saint to whom they are attributed, but he states, "This bone fragment, in contrast, suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains from St Nicholas himself." Kazan believes the pelvis fragment may come from the same individual as the skeleton divided between the churches in Bari and Venice, since
7280-439: The remaining bones of Saint Nicholas, as well as those of several other bishops of Myra, from the church there, which was only guarded by four Orthodox monks, and brought them to Venice , where they deposited them in the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was lent credence in two scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which confirmed that the relics in the two cities are anatomically compatible and may belong to
7384-461: The remaining fragments of his skeleton. In 1044, they dedicated the San Nicolò al Lido monastery basilica to him on the north end of the Lido di Venezia . According to a single chronicle written by an anonymous monk at this monastery, in 1100, a fleet of Venetian ships accompanied by Bishop Henri sailed past Myra on their way to Palestine for the First Crusade. Bishop Henri insisted for the fleet to turn back and set anchor in Myra. The Venetians took
7488-580: The remains of the saint from his burial church in Myra, over the objections of the Greek Orthodox monks in the church. Adam C. English describes the removal of the relics from Myra as "essentially a holy robbery " and notes the thieves were not only afraid of being caught or chased after by the locals, but also the power of Saint Nicholas himself. Returning to Bari, they brought the remains with them and cared for them. The remains arrived on 9 May 1087. Two years later, Pope Urban II inaugurated
7592-530: The saint by Russian sculptor Gregory Pototsky was donated by the Russian government in 2000, and was given a prominent place in the square fronting the medieval Church of St Nicholas. In 2005, mayor Süleyman Topçu had the statue replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted an image more recognisable to foreign visitors. Protests from the Russian government against this were successful, and
7696-417: The saint to have died at over seventy years of age and to have been of average height and slender-to-average build. He also suffered from severe chronic arthritis in his spine and pelvis. In 2004, at the University of Manchester , researchers Caroline Wilkinson and Fraco Introna reconstructed the saint's face based on Martino's examination. The review of the data revealed that the historical Saint Nicholas
7800-463: The same act of charity toward the third daughter. The father fell on his knees, thanking him, and Nicholas ordered him not to tell anyone about the gifts. 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, Nicholas is often shown wearing
7904-574: The same person. It is said that someone dies every time the bones of Saint Nicholas in Venice are disturbed. The last time the bones were examined was in July 1992. Because of Nicholas's skeleton's long confinement in Myra, after it was brought to Bari, the demand for pieces of it rose. Small bones quickly began to disperse across western Europe. The sailors who had transported the bones gave one tooth and two fragments chipped from Nicholas's sarcophagus to
8008-434: 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. 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,
8112-400: The shop nearby. The liquid gradually seeps out of the tomb, but it is unclear whether it originates from the body within the tomb, or from the marble itself; since the town of Bari is a harbour, and the tomb is below sea level , there have been several natural explanations proposed for the manna fluid, including the transfer of seawater to the tomb by capillary action . In 1966, a vault in
8216-481: The shrine at Bari and told him to take one of his bones with him to his hometown of Port , near Nancy . The clerk took a finger bone back with him to Port, where a chapel was built to Saint Nicholas. Port became an important center of devotion in the following of Nicholas and, in the fifteenth century, a church known as the Basilique Saint-Nicolas was built there dedicated to him. The town itself
8320-554: 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 . 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. It is depicted in stained glass windows, wood panel paintings, tapestries, and frescoes. Eventually,
8424-460: 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. 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
8528-475: The story's late attestation, it "has no historical value." Jona Lendering, however, defends the veracity and historicity of the incident, arguing that, as it was embarrassing and reflects poorly on Nicholas's reputation, it is inexplicable why later hagiographers would have invented it. Later versions of the legend embellish it, making the heretic Arius himself and having Nicholas punch him rather than merely slapping him with his open hand. In these versions of
8632-631: The story, Nicholas is also imprisoned, but Christ and the Virgin Mary appear to him in his cell. He tells them he is imprisoned "for loving you" and they free him from his chains and restore his vestments. The scene of Nicholas slapping Arius is celebrated in Eastern Orthodox icons 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 . One story tells how during
8736-669: The tenth line of a list of attendees at the Council of Nicaea included by Theodore Lector in the Historiae Ecclesiasticae Tripartitae Epitome , written sometime between 510 and 515. A single, offhand mention of Nicholas of Myra also occurs in the biography of another saint, Saint Nicholas of Sion , who apparently took the name "Nicholas" to honor him. The Life of Saint Nicholas of Sion , written around 250 years after Nicholas of Myra's death, briefly mentions Nicholas of Sion visiting Nicholas's tomb to pay homage to him. According to Jeremy Seal,
8840-478: The theological dispute almost twenty years later by asserting the Monophysite view that Christ's divine and human nature were one. Eutyches was condemned by Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople but supported by the powerful Dioscurus of Alexandria , Cyril's successor. The Second Council of Ephesus in 449 restored Eutyches and deposed Flavian. The Chalcedonians opposed the decision, with Pope Leo I calling
8944-538: 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. Eustathius, under the threat of being reported directly to the Emperor, repented of his corrupt ways. Afterward, the generals succeeded in ending the rebellion and were promoted by Constantine to even higher status. The generals' enemies, however, slandered them to
9048-487: The throne for Valentinian, and after some deliberation in 424 Theodosius opened the war against Joannes. On 23 October 425, Valentinian III was installed as emperor of the West with the assistance of the magister officiorum Helion , with his mother taking an influential role. To strengthen the ties between the two parts of the empire, Theodosius's daughter Licinia Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian. She married Valentinian III later on 29 October 437, and became empress of
9152-530: The time of testing, was in the possession of Father Dennis O'Neill, a priest from St Martha of Bethany Church in Illinois. The results of the radiocarbon dating confirmed that the pelvis dates to the fourth century AD, around the same time that Saint Nicholas would have died, and is not a medieval forgery. The bone was one of the oldest the Oxford team had ever examined. According to Professor Higham, most of
9256-520: The time of the Roman Empire . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession , he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker . Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as
9360-400: The western portion of the empire. Theodosius is often seen by both ancient and modern historians as being constantly pushed around by his sister, wife, and eunuchs, particularly Chrysaphius among them. In the later decades of his life, Chrysaphius rose to prominence as one of the emperor's favorites. He favored the pro-Monophysite policy, influenced the foreign policy towards the Huns , and
9464-455: 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. It has long been traditionally assumed that Saint Nicholas
9568-567: Was Roman emperor from 408 to 450. He was proclaimed Augustus as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire 's sole emperor after the death of his father, Arcadius , in 408. His reign was marked by the promulgation of the Theodosian law code and the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople . He also presided over the outbreak of two great Christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism . Theodosius
9672-544: Was 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) in height and had a broken nose, which had partially healed, revealing that the injury had been suffered ante mortem . The broken nose appeared to conform with hagiographical reports that Saint Nicholas had been beaten and tortured during the Diocletianic Persecution . The facial reconstruction was produced by Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Manchester and
9776-417: Was born on 10 April 401 as the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his wife Aelia Eudoxia . On 10 January 402, at the age of 9 months, he was proclaimed co-a ugustus by his father, thus becoming the youngest to bear the imperial title up to that point . On 1 May 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. The government was at first administered by
9880-591: Was common for early Christian saints , and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus (" Saint Nick ") through Sinterklaas . Little is known about the historical Saint Nicholas. The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death and probably contain legendary elaborations. He is said to have been born in the Anatolian seaport of Patara , Lycia , in Asia Minor to wealthy Christian parents. In one of
9984-578: Was kept in the San Nicola in Carcere in Rome. This church, whose name means "Saint Nicholas in Chains", was built on the site of a former municipal prison. Stories quickly developed about Nicholas himself having been held in that prison. Mothers would come to the church to pray to Saint Nicholas for their jailed sons to be released and repentant criminals would place votive offerings in the church. As
10088-547: Was on display for veneration at Christ the Savior Cathedral before being taken to Saint Petersburg in mid-June prior to returning to Bari. More than a million people lined up in Moscow for a momentary glimpse of the gilded ark holding one of the saint's ribs. The sailors from Bari took only the main bones of Nicholas's skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. The city of Venice had interest in obtaining
10192-423: Was originally buried in his home town of Myra, where his relics are later known to have been kept, but some recent archaeological evidence indicates that Saint Nicholas may have originally been entombed in a rock-cut church located at the highest point on the small Turkish island of Gemile , only twenty miles away from his birthplace of Patara. Nicholas's name is painted on part of the ruined building. In antiquity,
10296-439: Was originally entombed is at the western end of the great processional way. In the mid-7th century, Gemile was vulnerable to attack by Arab fleets, so Nicholas's remains appear to have been moved from the island to the city of Myra, where Nicholas had served as bishop for most of his life. Myra is located roughly 40 km (25 mi) east of Gemile and its location further inland made it safer from seafaring Arab forces. It
10400-454: Was reported to have found a temple below the modern church, with excavation work to be done that will allow researchers to determine whether it still holds Nicholas's body. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Byzantine Empire temporarily lost control over most of Asia Minor to the invading Seljuk Turks , and so Greek Christians of Myra became subjects of the Turks. At the same time
10504-444: Was resented by Pulcheria, general Zeno , and ancient writers. According to Theodorus Lector , Theodosius was so unmindful of his surroundings that he accidentally signed his sister's note selling his wife, Eudocia, into slavery. However, some scholars argue that contrary to hostile ancient sources, Theodosius was more in control of his government. Others view that the government was controlled mostly by civilian officials, and not by
10608-595: Was seen as "The Lord of the Sea", often described by modern Greek scholars as a kind of Christianized version of Poseidon . In modern Greece, he is still easily among the most recognizable saints and 6 December finds many cities celebrating their patron saint. He is also the patron saint of all of Greece and particularly of the Hellenic Navy . In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Nicholas's memory
10712-538: Was shown on a BBC2 TV program The Real Face of Santa . In 2014, the Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University produced an updated reconstruction of Saint Nicholas's face. In 2017, two researchers from Oxford University , Professor Tom Higham and Doctor Georges Kazan, radiocarbon dated a fragment of a pelvis claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas. The fragment originally came from a church in Lyon, France and, at
10816-494: Was the bishop of the city of Myra , also in Lycia. Recognizing his nephew's calling, Nicholas's uncle ordained him as a priest. After his parents died from an epidemic, Nicholas is said to have distributed their wealth to the poor. In his most famous exploit, 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
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