To save three poor sisters from prostitution, Sint-Nicolaas threw three purses of money through the window. That way the girls could still get married. Our Taai-Taai dolls and chocolate coins refer to this story. The veneration of the holy bishop Saint Nicholas has a long tradition.
Whether Sint-Nicolaas really existed is not entirely certain, but there is a good chance. According to tradition, the historical figure who would have served as a model for the Dutch Sinterklaas was born about 270 AD in the port of Patara in the Greek province of Lycia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). His Greek name Nikolaos means as much as 'conqueror of the people'. He became bishop of Myra and is said to have died on December 6, 340.
During his life he is said to have visited Jerusalem. Miraculous stories soon circulated about his actions as a bishop, which were not written down until centuries later. He was canonized by the Greek Catholic Church and in 550 the first church was dedicated to him in Istanbul, then called Constantinople. The oldest and most important biography of Saint Nicholas, with a large number of miracles, dates from about 800.
Saint Nicholas on the facade of the Saint Nicholas Church in Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors and prostitutes. The Sint-Nicolaaskerk is therefore, very appropriately, between the IJ and the ramparts.
Europe in
The first biography of Saint Nicholas from 800 forms the basis for later versions, including the very popular legend collection Legenda Aurea (golden legends) by Jacobus de Voragine, dating from ca. 1300. The book was used throughout Europe.
Many of these stories have left their mark to this day. In one of the most famous stories, Nicholas saves three poor girls from prostitution by anonymously throwing in three purses with money. That way they can still have an honorable marriage. Based on this story, Sinterklaas was also seen as a patron saint for young people seeking a good marriage. This later led to the so-called 'suiters' of taai-taai. The money exchanges echo in today's chocolate coins.
In another legend, the saint calmed a raging sea. This is the source of his patronage of sailors and shipwrecked sailors and explains why many Nicholas churches and chapels are located by the sea. It also explains why he arrives by ship at Dutch arrivals. Of a later date is the story about a miraculous rescue of three schoolchildren slaughtered and salted, with which Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of students.
Fourteenth century painting by Fra Angelico about the life of Saint Nicholas. On the left, Saint Nicholas is depicted as a newborn:the story went that he could stand immediately and thanked God for his birth. In the middle you see Saint Nicholas preaching in Myra. On the right the story of the three poor sisters and the money that Sint-Nicolaas gives them. Click on the image for a larger version.
Children's party
Nicholas became one of the most beloved Catholic saints in the Greek and Russian Church, but advanced from Italy through Western Europe and thus also reached the Netherlands.
By 1200, his veneration was quite common among students, marriageable youth, sailors, travelers, and merchants. Numerous Nicholas Churches were founded and many boys were named after him. As part of that veneration, his death anniversary was celebrated on December 6. Often a death or name day was celebrated from the evening before. Thus December 5 became Sinterklaas evening. Schoolchildren in particular celebrated the Sint-Nicolaas feast. Sometimes they got a day off and money.
But in the Middle Ages, more celebrations took place in December. In monastic education, in the days after Christmas, the tradition of 'the world upside down' arose, in which children were given privileges that they otherwise would not have. A boy was elected boy bishop and the children were treated. This grew into the feast of the Innocents (=innocent) Children, which was celebrated on December 28.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the election of children's bishops came to coincide with the annual Nicholas Day on December 6, which thus merged with Innocent Children's Day. The festival had typical Christian-medieval elements, such as the miraculous appearance, the combination of punishments and rewards, and testing knowledge of the Bible.
Sint-Nicolaas was known as a childhood friend because he brought three dead children back to life. They had been dismembered by an evil innkeeper, who then kept them in a barrel of brine.
Saint goes under
In the early sixteenth century, the feast of Nicholas was celebrated in large parts of Western Europe. The split in the church at the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, however, had major consequences for the role of Catholic saints in general and therefore also for Saint Nicholas. Famous is the example of the great reformer Luther who first celebrated Saint Nicholas with his children, but a few years later handed out presents at Christmas.
In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas was banned from church and art and the Catholic congregation more or less disappeared from public life until the nineteenth century. But the Sint-Nicolaasfeest continued to exist. It was celebrated at home, as witnessed by the paintings of (the Catholic) Jan Steen, among others. Children were treated and presents were given in shoes and clogs and sweets were scattered. The rod was already there, as an educational instrument.
In the Netherlands, Sint-Nicolaas was banned from church and art from the sixteenth century onwards. But the Sint-Nicolaasfeest continued to exist. It was celebrated in a domestic circle, as is apparent from the painting 'The Sint-Nicolaasfeest' by (the Catholic) Jan Steen.
The Sinterklaas markets, which were organized from the sixteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century, continued to exist in public, mainly in Amsterdam, where Saint Nicholas was the patron saint. Attempts were made to ban them - they would be too rowdy and too Roman - but they were far too popular to be banned. At that time, the markets also had all the goodies that still belong to Sinterklaas:banquet letters (a remnant of celebrations in monastic schools), marzipan, gingerbread and speculoos.
In the eighteenth century, prints were made depicting Saint Nicholas. Until the nineteenth century, however, the saint himself was never seen 'in the flesh'. The bishop was an invisible presence, who saw everything, rewarded good children and punished naughty children, a strict, abstract children's friend, who went through life alone.
- Read more about the modern Sinterklaas party here (article by Paul Faber)
- Sinterklaas guards the border (Knowledge link article)
- See the Saint slides from the rooftops (Knowledge link article)
- Sinterklaas through the ages (Meertens Institute)
- Order page 'Sinterklaas overseas:adventures of a wanderlust saint'