Who is the Historical Santa Claus?

My post concerning Halloween led to a discussion on Christmas and Saint Nicholas. I was quite surprised to find out that many of my friends do not know who Saint Nicholas was. Oh sure, they recognized him as the guy who secretly gave gifts during Christmas but all the other details were completely off their mark. For instance, many thought that he was German.

Since my friends, who are usually knowledgeable of Christian issues, do not know who Saint Nicholas was, I am suspecting that it's probably true of the general public. So, I decided to post what I know (and double checked with reference literature).

The historical Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra (in modern day Turkey but at the time was a Greek city; the city was mentioned in Acts 27). He lived during the 4th century. Although he was the Bishop of Myra, he was born in Italy.

His parents were wealthy. When his parents died and Nicholas received his inheritance, he gave it away to the poor.

During his lifetime, he was renowned for:

1) Defending the Christian faith; most particularly the intolerance of Arianism, a warped form Christian theology at the First Council of Nicaea

2) Intolerance of pagan religions and pagan artifacts; responsible for the destruction of several pagan temples including the Temple of Artemis.

3) Taking care of the poor

4) Defending the falsely accused

Many amazing deeds were attributed to him including rescuing sailors.

The most enduring is, of course, the secret giving of gifts. Evidently, there was a poor man who had three daughters but was unable to afford a proper dowry for them. In those days, it would have doomed them to not only remaining unmarried but would have to become prostitutes to support themselves. So Nicholas, on the nights before each daughter came "of age", would anonomously throw a purse of gold coins into their house. The first two times, he threw the purse through the window. The third time, the father decided to lie in wait to discover their benefactor. When Nicholas caught wind of the father's plan, he tossed the purse down the chimney, instead.

When the Asia Minor was invaded by Turks, at the beginning of the second millennium (long after Nicholas' death), Nicholas' remains were taken to a church in Germany. The town was renamed Nikolausberg.