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[[Image:Thomas Nast Santa Claus.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Santa Claus, by Thomas Nast]]
[[Image:Thomas Nast Santa Claus.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Santa Claus, by Thomas Nast]]
:<small>''This article is about the Christmas gift-giver. For the saint, see [[Saint Nicholas]].''</small>
: ''This article is about the Christmas gift-giver. For the saint, see [[Saint Nicholas]].''
'''Santa Claus''', or simply "Santa", is an [[United States of America|American]] and [[Canada|Canadian]] popular cultural icon, likely brought over from [[Germany|German]]-speaking countries, the [[Low Countries]], and [[Scandinavia]]. He has been a regular staple of the North American observance of [[Christmas]] for about two centuries or more, and as well as much of the world. Santa Claus brings presents to good children every Christmas, rides a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer and lives at the [[North Pole]].
'''Santa Claus''' (from Dutch: ''Sinterklaas''), figure of modern folklore, represented as a bearded, friendly old man who delivers presents to children on Christmas Eve. A popular cultural icon since the late 18th century<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Santa%20Claus</ref>, Santa Claus had its origins within northern and western Europe, and was likely based upon legends and myths associated with St. Nicholas of Myra.
== Origins ==
== Origins ==
The ultimate basis of Santa Claus is [[Saint Nicholas]], the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Bishop]] of [[Myra]]. In the ninth century AD, coincident with the [[Muslim]] invasion and re-invention of [[Rome|Roman]] [[Asia Minor]] as the [[Ottoman Empire]], the bones of Saint Nicholas were transported to [[Europe]]. The many legends about this bishop—including a persistent legend about the "[[manna]]" coming from his body after his death—fostered the growth of new legends of Saint Nicholas being somehow larger than life.
The ultimate basis of Santa Claus is [[Saint Nicholas]] (270-343 AD), the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Bishop]] of [[Myra]]. Of the many legends attributed to him one of the most persistent is a gift of gold given to a deranged man, that his daughters may not prostitute themselves:
:''"And when his father and mother were departed out of this life, he began to think how he might distribute his riches, and not to the praising of the world but to the honour and glory of God. And it was so that one, his neighbour, had then three daughters, virgins, and he was a nobleman: but for the poverty of them together, they were constrained, and in very purpose to abandon them to the sin of lechery, so that by the gain and winning of their infamy they might be sustained. And when the holy man Nicholas knew hereof he had great horror of this villainy, and threw by night secretly into the house of the man a mass of gold wrapped in a cloth. And when the man arose in the morning, he found this mass of gold, and rendered to God therefor great thankings, and therewith he married his oldest daughter."''<ref>https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/stories-legends/classic-sources/the-golden-legend</ref>
[[Holland|Dutch]] settlers in [[New Amsterdam]] brought with them the tradition surrounding this new legend of Saint Nicholas, whom they called ''Sinter Klaas'' in their language (and still do today).<ref name=Santa>Anonymous, "[http://www.lnstar.com/mall/main-areas/santafaq.htm Santa Claus Facts, Origins, and Fun Tidbits]," ''Lone Star Internet'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref> With the British takeover of [[New Netherland]] by troops loyal to the then-incumbent Duke of York, this mythical character gained a new name: Santa Claus.
In the ninth century AD, coincident with the [[Muslim]] invasion and re-invention of [[Rome|Roman]] [[Asia Minor]] as the [[Ottoman Empire]], the bones of Saint Nicholas were transported to [[Europe]]. The many legends about this bishop—including a persistent legend about the "[[manna]]" coming from his body after his death—fostered the growth of new legends of Saint Nicholas being somehow larger than life.
[[Holland|Dutch]] settlers in [[New Amsterdam]] brought with them the tradition surrounding this new legend of Saint Nicholas, whom they called ''Sinterklaas'' in their language (and still do today).<ref name=Santa>Anonymous, "[http://www.lnstar.com/mall/main-areas/santafaq.htm Santa Claus Facts, Origins, and Fun Tidbits]," ''Lone Star Internet'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref> With the British takeover of [[New Netherland]] by troops loyal to the then-incumbent Duke of York, this mythical character gained a new name: Santa Claus.
In the early nineteenth century, at least three prominent Americans contributed to the Santa Claus legend:
In the early nineteenth century, at least three prominent Americans contributed to the Santa Claus legend: