Stefan's Florilegium

St-Nicholas-art

St-Nicholas-art - 7/18/94

"A Saint for the Season..." by Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester.

NOTE: See also the files: 12th-nite-msg, holidays-msg, Yule-msg, Xmas-art,
pop-religion-art, Christmas-art, icons-msg, Icons-art.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set
of files, called Stefanšs Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at:
http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be
reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first
or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,
Mark S. Harris
AKA: Stefan li Rous
stefan@florilegium.org
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A Saint for the Season...
--Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester

Almost everyone knows that St. Nicholas is associated with the
Christmas season, that the name "Santa Claus" itself evolved from his
name. Fewer people know about the historical St. Nicholas or about the
way he was revered in the Middle Ages. Since I have always thought of
Nicholas as my own patron saint (not only because of my name, but also
because of his association with scholars), I set off to find out a
little bit about him.

Nicholas himself is almost legendary. He is supposed to have been
Bishop of Myra (in Asia Minor) around the time of Constantine the
Great (early fourth century). His first mention in literature is in
the reign of Justinian (sixth century). Between these two dates, a
body of oral tradition seems to have formed around MyraUs legendary
first bishop and the miracles associated with his tomb, most notably
the fact that the tomb exuded an oil or balm with healing properties.

Nicholas is associated first of all with the sea. Myra was a seaport,
and the first church there seems to have been built over an old temple
of Poseidon (which, the legend goes, Nicholas is said to have toppled
in dramatic fashion). This aspect made him a favourite of sailors
(who would often throw three loaves of bread overboard in his honour
when they felt a storm brewing), and because Byzantium was an empire
built on sea trade, he became a favourite in Constantinople as well.

Another early story of legend discusses NicholasU saving of three
Imperial officials who had been unjustly accused of crimes; Nicholas
is thus the prototype of bishops who uphold the Church in the face of
opposition from State authority-- a fact which would make him a
favourite of reform-minded Popes of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Then there is, of course, the famous story of how Nicholas saved the
three daughters of a poor man from being sold into prostitution by
tossing bags of gold into the windows of their house at night. (In
this way, Nicholas became associated with gift-giving, patronage of
the poor, and, incidentally, of pawnbrokers, who still use the symbol
of three balls of gold to this day.) You will notice the number three
keeps reappearing in Nicholas stories -- many in the Middle Ages thus
associated him with the Trinity, and thus, the defence of orthodoxy.

A final famous story about Nicholas should be mentioned. He is said to
have resurrected three boys or students, who had been killed and
pickled in a tub (sometimes for as long as seven years) by a nasty
innkeeper. In this way, Nicholas became associated with the patronage
of children and students. His feast day is close to that of St.
Catherine of Alexandria, another patron of scholars, and the two thus
became associated with each other (Nicholas and Catherine was a
favourite pair of names for ts in the Middle Ages.)

In an event mentioned by nearly every major western chronicler,
NicholasU body and relics were translated (moved) to the Italian
city of Bari in 1087. Thereafter, the cult of Nicholas, heretofore a
mostly Byzantine saint, became more and more popular in the West,
aided, perhaps, by the presence of Russian Varangians in Bari, who
regarded Nicholas as the patron of their own people. Interestingly
enough, the new tomb in Bari also exuded an oil or balm as well.

Nicholas was the subject, along with Catherine, of the earliest extant
mystery plays of the Middle Ages. He also became a favourite patron
of guilds and confraternities, as he was associated both with helping
the poor and with merchants and banking. Because of his association
with students and the poor, he became associated especially with the
Friars Minor (Franciscans); the proper name of Greyfriars at Oxford
is actually the College of St. Nicholas.

In the later Middle Ages, several traditions became associated with
the celebration of St. Nicholas Day (December 6). One of these was
the tradition of the "Boy Bishop", where students in the schools
would choose one of their own to rule them for the Christmas season,
often to delicious excess. Gift-giving would also often be involved.
Many of these traditions also became associated with the twelve days
after Christmas, as gift-giving was also associated with the New Year,
and because of the tradition of the arrival of the Magi bearing gifts
for the Christ Child on January 6. Even after tight controls were
placed on these official celebrations, Nicholas continued to play a
part in less official ones. Often accompanied by devils or fairies
(such as Black Peter), he would visit the homes of children in the
Netherlands, leaving fruits, candies, and "Nicholas cakes" in the
shoes of good children, and bundles of switches in those of bad
children. MummersU processions often involved Nicholas as well.
Partially as a result of these decidedly
secular observances, Nicholas gradually lost status as one of the more
exalted saints of the Catholic church.

The invention of Santa Claus is another thing altogether. Many of
these customs had died out in Europe by the nineteenth century, only
to be revived by American writers like Washington Irving and Clement
Moore, who reinvented the old saint in a new guise. Nicholas, who had
once rode a white horse like a knight, was now equipped with a sleigh
and reindeer, and the sprites who once accompanied him were now
transformed into toymaking elves. This American Santa has traveled
back across the Atlantic in the past hundred years and reawakened the
memories of old customs long forgotten in those countries. But he,
like so many of the "old traditions" we observe, is a product of the
nineteenth century--though his antecedents may certainly be found in
the St. Nicholas of the Middle Ages.

Source:
Charles W. Jones, _Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan._.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Copyright 1994 by Susan Carroll-Clark, 53 Thorncliffe Park Dr. #611,
Toronto, Ontario M4H 1L1 CANADA. Permission granted for
republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited
and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

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