What is the History of Santa Claus

The legend of Santa Claus starts in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, way back in the 4th century with the legend of Saint Nicholas. It was customary back then to enter a monastery at a young age and if a family had more than one son, one was given to the church. Saint Nicholas did just that and he rose to the rank of Bishop.

So how does a bishop from centuries past get to be associated with Santa Claus? Remember, Bishops back then had wealth. And the story goes, there was a nobleman who had fallen on hard times and he had no money for a dowry for his three daughters. And back then, no dowry, no marriage. Saint Nicholas heard about his problem, and being the good person he was, decided to help. One night he took a bag of gold and threw it in an open window. The next day the nobleman used it as a dowry for the oldest daughter. That very same night, another bag of gold arrived courtesy of Saint Nicholas. And that was used for the second daughter. Now understandably by this time the nobleman was a bit curious about where the heck all this gold was coming from, so he decided to stay up and see what he could discover. And sure enough, Saint Nicholas showed up with a third bag. The nobleman was asked to keep Nicholas’ identity secret, but evidently someone spilled the beans.