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The tomb is sealed, the city is asleep, and beneath
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a church floor in Myra, a saint's bones are floating
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in holy liquid. Sixty men from Bari come as pilgrims,
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they leave as thieves. By sunrise, a town is screaming
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at the sea, and Santa Claus is already disappearing over
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the horizon. What you were about to teat is believed
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to be based on witness accounts, testimonies, and public record.
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This is terrifying and treat treat. In the Middle Ages,
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faith had a price, and sometimes the price was paid
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not in blood but in bone. Tonight's story begins in
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a coastal church in Myra, modern day Turkey, where the
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body of a beloved saint lay undisturbed for centuries. Saint Nicholas,
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Protector of children, patron, Saint of sailors, and through a
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long chain of legend, one of the roots of Santa
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Claus himself. But in the year ten eighty seven AD,
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a band of men from Bari arrived with a plan
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that would shock the Christian world. They would open the tomb,
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they would take what was inside, and they would call
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it salvation. What followed was a trail of grief, rivalry,
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and miracles that seeped from stone, and ancient liquid still
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collected to this very day. It's a story of devotion
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and deception and a question that refuses to die. Did
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they steal a saint or did the saint choose to
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be stolen? We're telling that story tonight. In a dim
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crypt beneath a basilica in coastal Italy, a marble tomb
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sweats mysterious drops of liquid. Each spring. On May ninth,
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a priest stoops with a vile to collect this clear manna,
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as they call it, weeping from the stone, a substance
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believers call holy and healing. It is a ritual both
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festive and eerie, a yearly gift from the grave of
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Saint Nicholas of Myra, better known to the world as
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the model for the jolly Santa Claus. Far above, in
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the sunlit streets of Bari, Italy, locals parade a statue
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of the saint from the harbor to his basilika, commemorating
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the day his relics arrived in the city. Choirs sing
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and church bell's peal. Yet this joyful celebration marks one
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of history's most audacious grave robberies. Over nine centuries ago.
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The bones now oozing miracle water in Barri were stolen
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from Nicholas's grave in what one scholar bluntly calls a
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holy robbery, a caper fueled by faith, desperation, and medieval opportunism.
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This is the uncanny true story of how the relics
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of a fourth century bishop, patron of children, sailors and
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the poor were plundered and fought over. It's the story
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of how they came to exude a mystical liquid, and
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how the legend of Saint Nicholas grew and evolved into
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the cheerful myth of Santa Claus. It's a tale of
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miracles and mayhem, with an atmosphere at once festive but
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also Prepare to journey to the late eleventh century, when
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Italian sailors conspired to steal Santa's bones and set into
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motion a saga of sacred thefts, rival cities, and a
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Christmas spirit born from the most macabre of true crimes.
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Saint Nicholas had been dead for nearly seven hundred and
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forty four years by the spring of ten eighty seven AD.
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In life, he was the Bishop of Myra, a Greek
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speaking city in Asia Minor modern day Demra, Turkey. Little
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can be confirmed about Nicholas's biography, but legend paints him
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as a man of extraordinary generosity and piety. Born in
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the third century to a wealthy family, he allegedly gave
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away his inheritance to help the needy, including a famous
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story in which he secretly saved three destitute young sisters
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from being sold into slavery by tossing bags of gold
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through their window at night, providing dowries so they could marry.
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His kindness and reputed miracles from calming storms at sea
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to resurrecting murdered children, according to medieval lore, made Nicholas
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so beloved that he was honored as a saint. Soon
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after his death on December sixth, three forty three AD.
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His tomb in Myra became a pilgrimage site, and by
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the Middle Ages, Nicholas was one of the most revered
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saints in Christendom. Devotees believed his remains themselves held power.
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From at least the sixth century. Pilgrims in Myra claimed
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that Nicholas's bones secreted a sweet smelling liquid, a miraculous substance.
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They called myron or manna, which could heal sickness and
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worked wonders for the faithful. The very tomb of Saint
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Nicholas was said to sweat his holy mirr, as if
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the saint's generosity overflowed even in death. By the eleventh century, however,
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Nicholas's homeland had fallen into turmoil. Myra was part of
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the Byzantine Empire during a dire turning point in ten
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seventy one, when invading Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines and
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overran much of Asia. Minor Christian shrines across the region
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were suddenly in peril. In nicol case, both genuine piety
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and political self interest put a target on his grave.
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The relics of saints, their bones or other physical remains,
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were the most precious treasures of the medieval church. Cities
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and monasteries vied for such relics, which were believed to
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confer divine favour and often attracted crowds of pilgrims and
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their purses from far and wide. A thriving pilgrimage center
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could transform a town's fortunes entirely, and no saint was
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more popular than Nicholas, whose feast day December sixth and
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charitable reputation were celebrated across Europe. Thus, when news spread
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that Nicholas's tomb in Myra might fall under Infidel control
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or be lost entirely, a frenzy ignited to rescue the
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saint's remains for the Christian West. In truth, this rescue
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often amounted to furta sakra Latin for sacred theft, a
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practice by which churches or cities stole holy relics under
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the justification of faith. Medieval Christians convinced themselves that if
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a saint's bones could be successfully stolen, it must be
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by the saint's own will. As one historian notes, practically
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every Western chronicler of the era recorded the dramatic removal
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of Saint Nicholas's relics in ten eighty seven. It was
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an event of international intrigue, and it began with a
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band of sinealers from the Italian port of Barri scheming
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to outfox their rivals and snatch the prize for themselves.
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Bare in the late ten eighties was a rising power
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on the Adriatic coast. Only a decade earlier, in ten
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seventy one. The very year Myra was overrun. Barri had
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been the last Byzantine foothold in southern Italy. It fell
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to the Norman lords who now ruled the region. The
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cities new Latin Christian elite were eager to put Bari
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on the map spiritually and economically. They knew that possessing
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the illustrious relics of Saint Nicholas would instantly elevate Barri
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into a major pilgrimage destination, a source of both religious
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prestige and material prosperity. According to later accounts, Venice, Bai's
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maritime rival to the north, had a similar idea. The Venetians,
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famed for acquiring relics they had stolen Saint Mark's body
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from Egypt in the ninth century, hungered to claim Nicholas
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as well. A hidden competition brewed between the two cities
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sailors as to who would reach Myira first and secure
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the saint. In early ten eighty seven, word reached Barri
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that a Venetian expedition was being outfitted to sail for
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Nicholas's tomb. The race was on the men of Bai
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were determined to win by any means necessary. Thus it
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was in the spring of ten eights, three ships set
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sail from Bai, ostensibly on a trading voyage to the
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eastern Mediterranean. These ships carried about sixty two armed men,
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including sailors, merchants, and two priests, acting under the sponsorship
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of Bai's noble families. When they arrived at the coast
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of Lycia in early May, the Bari contingent learned that
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the Venetians were indeed not far behind. Wasting no time,
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the Barians plotted a daring mission ashore at Myra, where
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Nicholas's relics lay buried in the Church of Saint Nicholas.
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This was enemy territory. Myra was under Turkish dominion and
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the shrine was tended by Greek Orthodox monks, so the
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Italians resorted to subterfew huge Disguising themselves as humble pilgrims,
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the men from Bari made their way to the church
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and approached the resident monks, requesting to venerate the tomb
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of Saint Nicholas. The monks, unsuspecting, led the foreigners into
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the crypt and showed them the location of the saints sarcophagus.
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Only then did suspicion begin to flicker. According to one account,
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the monks suddenly demanded of the visitors, quote, why you
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men do you make such a request. You haven't planned
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to carry off the remains of the holy saint from here?
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If that is your purpose, know that you parley with
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unyielding men, even if it mean are death. The bare
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sailors tried to smooth over the accusation with pious words,
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even professing that they had come only to reverence the
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body of Nicholas, But their true intentions could not stay
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hidden for long. Tension thickened in the candle lit gloom
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of the crypt. The monks of Myra soon noticed the
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Italians casting calculating glances at the heavy marble slab covering
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Nicholas's tomb. The atmosphere turned from reverend to menacing. Suddenly,
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one of the Barrians, a tall, hot blooded man named Matthew,
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lost patience and drew his sword. Seizing a monk by
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the robe, he pressed the blade to the clergyman's throat
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and growled out a threat. Show us the exact spot
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of the saint's body, or die aghast. The monk pleaded
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for mercy and insisted that Nicholas's holy tomb lay just
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beneath the floor where they stood. At this the disguise
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of piety was dropped. The heist was on. The Italian
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sailors rushed to bar the church's doors, shoving a heavy
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bolt into place to prevent any townspeople from interrupting. A
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couple of armed men kept guard over the trembling monks.
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Others set to work trying to breach the tomb embedded
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in the floor. They had come prepared for a fight,
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but cracking open a saint's grave was its own challenge
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and its own risk as well. Medieval lore warned that
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stealing relics could invite divine wrath if the saint did
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not approve. Indeed, one chronicler notes the thieves quote were
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not only afraid of being caught, but also of the
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power of Saint Nicholas himself punishing them for their crime.
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No doubt, the men from Bahri felt a mix of
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fear and adrenaline as they pried with iron tools at
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the stone slab. It was Matthew who took the lead.
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Spotting a gap around a rectangular flagstone in the floor
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the top of the vault, he and his companions jammed
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crowbars into the seam and heaved. The stone refused to
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budge at first, sealed by centuries and perhaps by the
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saint's own stubborn will. The group paused, sweating and unsure,
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and even considered giving up when the slab wouldn't yield
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at all. Then one of the priests, from a man
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named Lupus, fumbled and dropped a glass vial of sacred
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oil he had been holding. It shattered on the floor.
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This jarring accident snapped the men from their hesitation. Taking
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it as a sign of urgency, Matthew raised a heavy
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mallet and brought it crashing down on the stone cover
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with all of his strength. At last, the slab had fractured.
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Matthew and the others pried the broken pieces aside and
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peered into the dark space below. There lay a second lid,
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the cover of Nicholas's sarcophagus. They managed to lift it partially,
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only to recoil in awe. A powerful aroma wafted out
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from beneath, like a sudden gust of sweet perfume, filling
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the crypt. The hardened sailors found themselves seeming to stand
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in paradise, overwhelmed by the fragrance within the sarcophagus. By
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flickering torchlight, they could see it was filled with liquid.
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The famous holy manna of Saint Nicholas was literally pooling
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around his bones. The men were stunned. To them this
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was a sure sign of divine favor. The miraculous oil
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that Nicholas's relics produced was now aiding their quest. It
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was as if the Saint himself were saying, come and
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take me. Any lingering doubt or fear of a curse
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evaporated with a shout of triumph. Matthew flung aside caution.
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The chronicler writes that he, unable to restrain the ardor
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of his heart, leapt bodily into the tomb, shoes and
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all splashing into the sacred mirror, up to his knees.
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What Matthew beheld in that flooded sarcophagus must have made
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his breath catch. There, half submerged in clear oil, lay
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the skeletal remains of Saint Nicholas, bones glowing like coals
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of fire, fragrant above all fragrance. For a moment, the
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gruff seaman was transformed into an awe struck pilgrim. He
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gently lifted handfuls of the bones them and caressing them
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in reverence peace by peace, Matthew passed the sacred relics
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up out of the tomb to the waiting priests, Lupus
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and another named Grimaldus. They wrapped the bones carefully in
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a clean cloak. In their haste and wonder The men
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did not manage to grab every last fragment, but they
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took all of the major bones of the skeleton, including
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Nicholas's skull, limb, bones, and spine. The smallest chips and
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some crumbled fragments were left behind in the oily sludge.
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Those would become important later. They also attempted to steal
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a beautiful ancient icon of Saint Nicholas that hung in
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the church, but according to legend, the icon miraculously bolted
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itself in place and refused to be moved. It seemed
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the saint did not wish to leave his former sanctuary
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entirely bereft something of him would remain. Satisfied that they
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had gathered the holy bones, the raiders bundled the relics
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into a wooden chest and secured it shut. All the
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while the gagged and cowed monks looked on in horror
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and despair. Now, as the Bahi sailors shouldered their precious
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loot and prepared to flee, the spell broke, and the
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monks began to wail, Oh, how great and inconsolable an
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affliction has overtaken us, One cried, tearing his robes in anguish.
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In a keening chorus, the clergy of Myra lamented their loss.
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Why are you leaving us, father, orphaned of your protection?
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To whom shall we flee? Who will guard us from
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our enemies? Now? Some even turned their grief toward Nicholas himself, angrily,
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questioning why the saint would abandon them After centuries, you
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have become well disposed to strangers and wayfarers, while to us,
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your servants from youth, you have shown yourself unhearing. You
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have reckoned as nothing the ministrations of our fathers and ourselves.
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As the intruders pressed out of the church with the
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reliquary chest, the monks mourning grew frenzied. They knew their
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beloved patron and protector, the soul of their town, was
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being taken forever. Some monks even prostrated themselves on the floor,
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sobbing that they would rather have died than seen this day?
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Why did you not allow us to be given death
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rather than be separated from you, oh benign father. Outside
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word of the sacrilege spread quickly. By the time the
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sailors of Bai hustled their way down to the harbor,
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a crowd of Myra's townspeople had assembled in panic and fury. Men,
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women and children, a multitude filled with affliction swarmed the wharf,
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wailing and begging for the return of their saint. As
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the Italians began boarding their ship, clutching the chest containing
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Nicholas's bones, the people of Myra made a desperate last stand.
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They rushed knee deep into the sea, surrounding the vessels,
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clinging to the oars and rudders in a human blockade.
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Through tears, they cried out, who are you and from
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what land that you have dared bring such calamity upon us?
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Give us back our patron and champion who protected us
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from our enemies. Visible and not seeing, the thieves unmoved,
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the people pleaded for at least a token of what
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they were losing. If we are entirely unworthy, do not
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leave us without a share, Give us at least a
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small portion of him. It was an astonishing scene, an
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entire city weeping and grasping at a ship, imploring that
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a fragment of a finger bone or a scrap of
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cloth be left to them, anything from the saint who
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had been the beating heart of their community for seven
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hundred years. But the men of Bari, though perhaps momentarily touched,
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had no intention of relinquishing their prize. Standing on the deck,
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one of the Bari leaders tried to address the crowd.
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He raised his hands and spoke kindly to the devastated myrons.
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We are Christians like you, he insisted, and the Saint
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appeared to us in a vision, bidding us carry his
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remains away. It is God's will, he argued, that Saint
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Nicholas now give light to the western world after so
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many generations protecting the East. The speaker promised that Myra
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would not be entirely forsaken. In place of these remains,
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you still have his holy tomb, from which all holy
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oil wells forth, and his venerable icon, which works wonders. Bari,
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he claimed, had as much need of a patron as Myra.
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Surely it was just in God's plan that our pre
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eminent city of Bari should possess so great a father
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and protector. These words, though diplomatic, gave little comfort to
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the people of Myra. As the ships prepared to depart,
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some townsfolk noticed one of their own monks, cowled and silent,
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standing aboard the Bari lead ship. A howl of rage
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went up. You took money to betray our protector. Several
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shouted at the monk, accusing him of abetting the theft
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for a bribe. The mob nearly rioted, straining against the vessels,
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but with a cracking of oars, the ships began to
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pull away. The strongest myrons clung to the hulls until
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the last possible second, soaked in spray, before collapsing back
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into the surf. On May ninth, ten eighty seven, the
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fleet from Bai unfurled their sails and slipped out of
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the Lycian harbor, carrying off Saint Nicholas of Myra on shore.
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The people watched with helpless anguish as the ship vanished
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over the horizon. Myra was bereft, Nicholas was gone. The
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men of Bari knew they had narrowly escaped, but their
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trials were not over. Legends of the voyage home, suggest
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that Saint Nicholas himself closely supervised the thieves turned custodians
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of his body. Initially, the three ships hugged the Anatolian coast,
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heading west. At one point, a sudden storm and head
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wind threatened to drive them aground. No matter how the
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sailors adjusted their rigging, the flotilla could make no progress.
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It was as if an invisible hand held them back.
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The frustrated crew began to wonder if Nicholas was displeased
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about something. Then one man recalled how chaotic the tomb
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rating had been. Could it be that in their squaremble,
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some of the sailors pocketed a few relics for themselves.
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It was common for those handling a saint's remains to
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try to snatch a small bone, chip or tooth as
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a personal token, a mixture of devotion and greed. If
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any of the Bai sailors had done so, they had
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violated the solemn vow they all took before departing that
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no one would keep any part of the treasure for himself.
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Fearing the saints wrath, the expedition leaders convened an urgent
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assembly on deck. They demanded that every man come forward
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and surrender any relics he might be hiding to reunite
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them with the main collection. One by one, guilt stricken
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sailors produced little cloth bundles and leather pouches revealing purloined
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fragments of bone. Each piece was returned to the reliquary
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chest and reconciled with Nicholas's other remains. Then the men
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fell to their knees and begged the saint for forgiveness.
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Almost immediately, according to the story, the contrary winds died
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down and a favorable breeze filled the sails. Saint Nicholas
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would permit the voyage to continue, but only with all
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of him together. The sailors had learned a grave lesson
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their holy passenger would not tolerate being divided up or
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treated as plunder. As they crossed the open sea, further
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wonders boom the crew's spirits. Off the coast of Greece,
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a small white gull appeared and alighted on the mast
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of the lead ship. The bird showed no fear of
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the men. Instead, it began to sing sweetly and flutter
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from ship to ship, even perching on the reliquary for
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a time, as if giving it a blessing. The chronicler
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marvels that this gentle creature rendered reverence to Nicholas in
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its own way, a mute creation giving voice to the
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power of God mid ocean. After circling the fleet, the
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mysterious gull flew off and vanished, never to be seen again.
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To the sailors, this was yet another sign that their
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mission carried divine favor. Finally, after weeks of travel and peril,
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the three ships approached the coast of Apulia. On the
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morning of May ninth, ten eighty seven. The lookout spied
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the familiar shape of Bari's harbor. News of the expedition's
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return and its astonishing cargo spread like wildfire throughout the city.
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As the sailors rode ashore at the quay, carrying the
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small wooden chest on their shoulders, they were met with
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a euphoric eruption of celebration. The people of Bai, from
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nobles to fishermen, rushed to the docks in an exultant throng.
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They could scarcely believe the miracle Saint Nicholas, the Great
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wonder Worker of the East, had come to Bary. Priests
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and monks donned their richest vestments and formed an impromptu procession,
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singing hymns as they went to receive the sacred remains.
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The men from the ships, weary and proud, recounted their
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adventure to wide eyed listeners on the pier. Almost immediately,
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arguments broke out over where to house the relics. The
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sailors had vowed among themselves to build a grand new church,
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a shrine specifically for Saint Nicholas at a certain sight
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in town. They called it the Royal Praetorium, an open
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area that had been part of the old governor's palace.
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Some citizens, however, insisted the saint should reside in Bahri's
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main cathedral. Others thought perhaps the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Benedict,
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already standing in the city, should guard the treasure. To
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forestall any conflict, the abbot of Saint Benedict's Elias came
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forward with a solution. He persuaded the sailors to entrust
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the relics temporarily to his monastery church until a decision
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could be reached. The sailors agreed, depositing Nicholas's bones in
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the altar of Saint Benedict's, while armed guards loyal to
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the Sailors posted themselves at the doors to ensure no rival,
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faction or opportunist made off with the prize. The homecoming
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of s Saint Nicholas was not without further drama. When
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the Archbishop of Bari, a certain Ursus, got word of
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the relics arrival, he hurried back to the city. He
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had been outside Bahri at the time. As the highest
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church authority, the archbishop naturally felt he should take possession
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of the saint and install the relics in his cathedral.
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But the men of Bahri and the populace, who had
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supported the Sailor's mission, bristled at this. They had risked
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life and limb to rescue Nicholas, they weren't about to
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surrender him to the sole control of the archbishop, who
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might claim all the glory for himself. A tense standoff ensued.
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Ursus attempted to seize the relics by force with a
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group of armed retainers, but the townspeople rallied to the defense,
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literally taking up swords and clubs to guard Saint Nicholas's
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temporary shrine. In the brief skirmish that erupted. Two of
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the archbishop's men and one citizen were killed, blood spilt
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in the saint's name. Ultimately, the archbishop backed down in
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the face of united public opposition. The people of Bahi,
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together with their beloved sailors, would keep Saint Nicholas for
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00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:45.239
the city. To secure that, they swiftly moved the relics
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from Saint Benedict's to a more neutral sight, the Praetorium
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as originally planned, and laid them in the chapel of
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Saint Eustradius. Their construction immediately began to we ate a
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00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:08.039
worthy permanent shrine, the Basilika of San Nicola, literally demolishing
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00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:12.880
old structures to build a new altar for Nicholas. On
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00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:17.800
the spot. The armed citizenry kept round the clock watch
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over the holy remains until the new Basilika was completed.
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Pope Urban the Second himself came to Bahri two years
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later in ten eighty nine to consecrate the Basilika and
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Nicholas's new tomb. At the dedication, the Pope personally laid
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00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:46.519
the saint's bones in a crypt beneath the altar, sealing
401
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Bahi's claim to Saint Nicholas for ages what the people
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00:37:52.760 --> 00:37:56.639
of Myra had seen as theft, The people of Bai
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00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:03.119
proclaimed a divinely ordained tren translation the rightful transfer of
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a saint's relics to a place where they truly belonged.
405
00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:14.559
May ninth, the anniversary of Nicholas's arrival in Bai, became
406
00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:21.480
an official feast day, celebrated by Western Christians. Thereafter, to
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00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:26.840
the Greek Christians and locals of Myra, the modern Turkish government,
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00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:32.639
none of this pomp changed the simple fact Nicholas's body
409
00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:44.239
had been stolen. Eastern chronicles would long brand the Bahri
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expedition as an outrageous act of piracy and sacrilege. One
411
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:55.519
Byzantine writer bitterly noted that from the time of Emperor
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Constantine up to ten eighty seven quote, no end emperor
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or overlord was able to do this until a gang
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00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:11.480
of Italian robbers succeeded in spiriting away their most treasured saint.
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But in the medieval world, possession was nine tenths of
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the law. Bai had the relics and miracles already began
417
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:36.880
to validate their triumph almost immediately after Nicholas's remains were
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00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:43.039
installed in bare. In ten eighty seven, miracle stories blossomed.
419
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A medieval chronicler records that on the very night the
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relics arrived, forty seven people in Bai were cured of
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various ailments by the Saint's intercession. Those healings include a
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00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:06.960
nobleman with a grave illness, a man lame on one side,
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several epileptics, two lepers, and a handful of paralyzed or
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00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:19.559
deformed individuals. In the days that followed, dozens more healings
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were reported as pilgrims streamed into the city to venerate
426
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the new treasure. Whether exaggerated or not, these accounts served
427
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:35.119
to cement the idea that Nicholas approved of his new
428
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resting place. A poignant story even emerged from Myra. A
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00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.480
monk there named Mark had a vision of Saint Nicholas
430
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:51.199
shortly after the theft. The Saint appeared to him and said, quote,
431
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:55.079
by the will of God, I am leaving the Roman world,
432
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referring to the east. Whither I go, I go on
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a visit, but here I shall dwell forever. In other words,
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Nicholas wanted his followers to know that although his physical
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00:41:11.679 --> 00:41:16.920
bones were relocated to Barri his spiritual presence would remain
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00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:22.840
in Myra to watch over his flock. This was scant
437
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consolation to the bereaved Myrons, but it at least allowed
438
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:34.719
them to believe the saint had not utterly forsaken them. Meanwhile,
439
00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:41.519
in Bai, Nicholas's cult only grew. Pilgrims from across Italy,
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00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:46.400
France and beyond made their way to the Basilica di
441
00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:51.639
San Nicola, and Bahri became one of Europe's most important
442
00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:59.480
pilgrimage sites virtually overnight, as the Britannica Observes hosting Saint
443
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Nicholas relics strengthened the city's global prominence, exactly as the
444
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Bahi sailors and patrons had hoped. The translation of Saint
445
00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:18.920
Nicholas also had ripple effects far beyond Italy. In late
446
00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:23.079
ten ninety six, as the First Crusade got under way,
447
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thousands of Frankish and Norman Crusaders gathered at Bahri en
448
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route to the Holy Land. These Western knights normally favored
449
00:42:35.480 --> 00:42:41.719
warrior saints, but Nicholas's reputation as a protector of travelers
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and seafarers resonated deeply with them. The presence of his
451
00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:53.880
relics in Bahi made him materially accessible to the Crusaders,
452
00:42:54.639 --> 00:43:01.079
who prayed for his aid. Through these armed pilgrims, Nicholas's
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00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:07.440
fame and many embellished legends of his life traveled to France, England,
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00:43:08.159 --> 00:43:13.039
and well beyond. Over the next centuries, devotion to Saint
455
00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:18.920
Nicholas spread across Europe like wildfire, blending with local folklore.
456
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:24.199
Stories of his charity and miracle working were translated into
457
00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:28.920
a myriad of languages. By the late Middle Ages, Saint
458
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:34.199
Nicholas had become the patron saint of children thanks to
459
00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:39.159
the tales of him resurrecting or saving youths, and a
460
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figure associated with gift giving in early December. In the Netherlands,
461
00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:51.159
for example, the Feast of Cinterclos on December fifth became
462
00:43:51.239 --> 00:43:56.159
a beloved holiday when a white bearded Saint Nicholas visits
463
00:43:56.320 --> 00:44:03.079
children with presents. Dutch colonists later brought these traditions to
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00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:09.039
the New World, where Saint Nicholas, nicknamed Santa Claus, a
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00:44:09.119 --> 00:44:14.320
corruption of Center Claus, eventually merged with other winter folk
466
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:20.519
figures to become the jolly gift bringer of Christmas. It's
467
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:26.880
a deliciously ironic evolution. The gentle rotund Santa Claus of
468
00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:31.559
modern Lore, clad in red and trimmed with fur, can
469
00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:37.079
trace his lineage directly back to an ascetic fourth century bishop,
470
00:44:37.719 --> 00:44:42.920
a man whose stolen bones once caused a riot and
471
00:44:43.239 --> 00:44:51.639
international intrigue. The transformation was gradual, and patchwork stories of
472
00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:57.320
Nicholas mingled with Germanic yule ore. The marketing of nineteenth
473
00:44:57.360 --> 00:45:02.320
century America gave us Santa's i conic look and so on.
474
00:45:03.400 --> 00:45:10.599
But at root, Santa Claus exists because medieval sailors stole
475
00:45:11.199 --> 00:45:17.159
Saint Nicholas's remains. Without the translation of his relics to Europe,
476
00:45:17.639 --> 00:45:22.840
Nicholas of Myra might have remained a minor Eastern saint
477
00:45:23.559 --> 00:45:29.800
lost to history. Instead, the theft in Bari launched him
478
00:45:29.800 --> 00:45:35.079
on the path to becoming the world's most recognizable saint,
479
00:45:35.199 --> 00:45:41.480
the figure who inspires hope and generosity each Christmas season.
480
00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:55.880
But he also inspired a rivalry over the relics back
481
00:45:55.960 --> 00:46:02.000
in Bari. The legacy of that ferta sacra endures tangibly
482
00:46:02.320 --> 00:46:07.119
in the form of Nicholas's tomb and the mysterious liquid
483
00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:12.599
that seeps from it. The mana of Saint Nicholas, which
484
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:18.199
so astonished sailors in ten eighty seven, continued to exude
485
00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:23.760
from the relics after they were enshrined in Bari. In fact,
486
00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:29.000
the annual ritual of collecting the mana became a cornerstone
487
00:46:29.039 --> 00:46:33.679
of Bahri's religious calendar. Each year, on the feast of
488
00:46:33.719 --> 00:46:39.639
the translation May ninth, clerics would ceremonially extract a small
489
00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:44.320
vial of clear fluid from a silver urn atop the
490
00:46:44.400 --> 00:46:49.280
saint's tomb, a practice that still happens in modern times.
491
00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:54.480
The manna is then diluted in holy water and bottled
492
00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:59.840
for pilgrims, who treasure it as a relic with healing power.
493
00:47:00.920 --> 00:47:06.079
Throughout the Middle Ages, vials of Nicholas's miraculous mirr were
494
00:47:06.119 --> 00:47:12.199
dispatched across Christendom as gifts, spreading his renown even further.
495
00:47:13.519 --> 00:47:17.480
Skeptics note that Bahri is a low lying port city,
496
00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:23.480
and Nicholas's crypt lies below sea level, making natural condensation
497
00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:29.119
a plausible source of the liquid. In nineteen twenty five,
498
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:34.159
scientists at the University of Bahri indeed analyzed the manna
499
00:47:34.760 --> 00:47:40.679
and found it to be pure water, odorless, colorless, sterile
500
00:47:41.840 --> 00:47:46.320
like condensing through the marble in the damp recess of
501
00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:51.639
the crypt. Of course, the Venetians have their very own
502
00:47:51.800 --> 00:47:57.639
chapter in this saga of sacred robbery. After Bahri's coup
503
00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:02.639
in ten eighty seven, Venice was humiliated at having lost
504
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:07.440
the race, but the proud Serenissima did not give up.
505
00:48:08.239 --> 00:48:11.880
In eleven hundred, during the time of the First Crusade,
506
00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:16.440
a fleet of Venetian ships stopped in Myra on their
507
00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:20.960
way to Levant, finding Nicholas's tomb now empty of its
508
00:48:21.039 --> 00:48:25.760
prize save for an Orthodox church. Watched by a handful
509
00:48:25.840 --> 00:48:30.639
of monks, the Venetians proceeded to seize all remaining bits
510
00:48:31.039 --> 00:48:37.400
of Nicholas's skeleton that Bahri's men had left behind. According
511
00:48:37.440 --> 00:48:42.880
to a Venetian chronicle, Bishop Enrico Carterarini of Venice led
512
00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:48.639
this effort, gathering the less impressive smaller bones from the51300:48:48.719 --> 00:48:55.000
saint's grave, essentially any fragment, sharred or particle that Bahri51400:48:55.400 --> 00:49:00.159
didn't take. They even collected relics of other local saints51500:49:00.199 --> 00:49:04.800
and bishops of Myra as a bonus. These relics were51600:49:04.840 --> 00:49:09.880
triumphantly brought back to Venice and enshrined in the monastery51700:49:09.960 --> 00:49:14.559
of San Niccolo Aledo, a church the Venetians had actually51800:49:14.639 --> 00:49:20.599
dedicated to Saint Nicholas decades earlier, in hopeful anticipation of51900:49:21.119 --> 00:49:27.760
obtaining his body. The Venetians thus claimed they too had52000:49:27.840 --> 00:49:33.559
Saint Nicholas, or at least what remained of him. Naturally,52100:49:33.760 --> 00:49:39.239
this provoked a rivalry with Bahri. For generations, the two52200:49:39.320 --> 00:49:45.280
cities sparred over who possessed the authentic Saint Nicholas. Bahri52300:49:45.559 --> 00:49:49.760
had the bulk of the skeleton, including the skull and longbones,52400:49:50.320 --> 00:49:54.000
while Venice had a collection of over five hundred bone52500:49:54.079 --> 00:50:00.920
fragments preserved in three chests at San Niccolo Alido. For centuries,52600:50:01.000 --> 00:50:05.119
neither city could definitively prove the other wrong, and a52700:50:05.159 --> 00:50:10.840
whiff of mystery clung to the Venetian relics. The chests52800:50:10.880 --> 00:50:15.679
at San Niccolo Alido were opened only rarely in solemn52900:50:15.760 --> 00:50:21.920
church investigations, and each time, curiously, the examining abbot of53000:50:21.960 --> 00:50:28.880
the monastery died shortly thereafter. This gave rise to a53100:50:28.960 --> 00:50:35.159
superstitious belief in Venice that someone dies every time the53200:50:35.199 --> 00:50:40.440
bones of Saint Nicholas are disturbed, as if to support53300:50:40.519 --> 00:50:44.840
that notion. The last examination prior to the modern era53400:50:45.559 --> 00:50:51.199
in sixteen thirty four, was followed by the Abbot's sudden death.53500:50:52.440 --> 00:50:57.360
Many Venetians privately feared their collection might not be legitimate,53600:50:58.000 --> 00:51:04.599
especially since Bahri was unquestionably producing Nicholas's famed mana while53700:51:04.719 --> 00:51:10.880
Venice was not. In nineteen ninety two, the Venetian church53800:51:10.960 --> 00:51:17.000
authorities finally decided to resolve the matter with science. They53900:51:17.079 --> 00:51:22.719
invited Professor Luigi Martino, the very anatomist who had examined54000:51:22.760 --> 00:51:27.599
the Bahi relics decades earlier, to inspect the Lido chests54100:51:28.119 --> 00:51:30.880
and determine if the bones could be part of the54200:51:30.920 --> 00:51:36.960
same skeleton as found in Bai. What Martino found initially54300:51:37.559 --> 00:51:43.960
baffled investigators. The main Venetian chest contained a jumble of54400:51:44.039 --> 00:51:49.599
bones from at least three different individuals, two adults, one54500:51:49.679 --> 00:51:56.079
male and one female, as well as one child's partial jaw.54600:51:57.159 --> 00:52:03.639
Alongside them was a large pile of unidentifiable fragments. This54700:52:03.880 --> 00:52:08.079
mismatch led the first examining team to declare that no,54800:52:08.960 --> 00:52:15.320
these could not possibly all be Nicholas. Perhaps Venice had54900:52:15.360 --> 00:52:23.320
been harboring the wrong relics all along, But Martino dug deeper,55000:52:29.679 --> 00:52:35.039
noticing the heap of whitish fragments had been overlooked. Martino55100:52:35.280 --> 00:52:40.960
recalled the historical accounts of the tomb break. According to55200:52:41.000 --> 00:52:46.719
the eleventh century witness Nicephorus, when Matthew entered Nicholas's tomb,55300:52:47.199 --> 00:52:51.360
he immersed his hands in the liquid and found the55400:52:51.360 --> 00:52:58.480
holy relics floating. Archdeacon John of Bahri likewise recorded that Matthew,55500:52:59.000 --> 00:53:03.159
searching for the same skull amid the oily sludge, ended55600:53:03.239 --> 00:53:09.199
up putting his feet inside with reckless audacity, and emerged55700:53:09.360 --> 00:53:15.519
soaked head to toe after retrieving the last bone. These55800:53:15.599 --> 00:53:21.039
clues suggested that Nicholas's smaller bones had indeed been smashed55900:53:21.199 --> 00:53:27.239
under foot in the tomb. Martino realized the Venetian fragments56000:53:27.599 --> 00:53:33.719
were exactly those missing parts crushed ribs, vertebrae, and upper56100:53:33.760 --> 00:53:39.760
limb bones that were absent from Bahre's collection. Moreover, the56200:53:39.800 --> 00:53:43.679
fragment's snow white appearance hinted that they had been treated56300:53:43.760 --> 00:53:49.679
by the Myra monks with lime or another preservative, explaining56400:53:49.760 --> 00:53:53.880
why they didn't look like the aged brown Bahri bones.56500:53:55.119 --> 00:54:01.440
Further analysis confirmed that the fragments corresponded anatomically to precisely56600:54:01.519 --> 00:54:07.239
the bones missing in Bahri. In nineteen ninety three, Martino56700:54:07.400 --> 00:54:13.679
triumphantly reported that Bahri and Venice's relics were complementary parts56800:54:14.239 --> 00:54:20.079
of the same skeleton, almost certainly the true remains of56900:54:20.199 --> 00:54:27.760
Saint Nicholas. At long last history and anatomy had been reconciled.57000:54:28.800 --> 00:54:33.599
The Patriarch of Venice, dumb founded at first, expressed both57100:54:33.760 --> 00:54:39.519
chagrin and relief. The Venetians did have Saint Nicholas's bones57200:54:39.599 --> 00:54:46.639
after all, just in a pulverized form. Today, about half57300:54:46.719 --> 00:54:52.840
of Nicholas's skeletal remains lie in Bahri and roughly half57400:54:53.000 --> 00:54:57.320
in Venice, with a smattering of stray bits and churches57500:54:57.360 --> 00:55:03.039
from Russia to the United States. But thanks to modern57600:55:03.119 --> 00:55:08.760
science we know they originate from the same fourth century man.57700:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.800
Scientific inquiry has shed further light on these venerable bones57800:55:15.280 --> 00:55:18.920
and given us a glimpse of the real human behind57900:55:19.119 --> 00:55:26.079
Santa Claus. In nineteen fifty three, when Bahris Basilika was58000:55:26.199 --> 00:55:32.360
undergoing repairs, the crypt was temporarily opened and Saint Nicholas's58100:55:32.400 --> 00:55:37.679
bones were exhumed for study. After eight hundred and sixty58200:55:37.760 --> 00:55:44.000
four years undisturbed, the skeleton was found to be extremely fragile,58300:55:44.639 --> 00:55:48.519
soaked with the watery manna that had pooled in the tomb,58400:55:49.559 --> 00:55:55.360
Professor Martino and his team carefully dried and cataloged each piece.58500:55:56.360 --> 00:56:01.760
They noted that while many large bones skull, legs, left, pelvis,58600:56:01.800 --> 00:56:06.760
and so on were intact, the smaller bones of the spine, ribs,58700:56:06.800 --> 00:56:12.719
and hands were mostly reduced to fragments. The damage was58800:56:12.880 --> 00:56:19.000
consistent with the historical accounts of breakage. Using measurements X rays,58900:56:19.039 --> 00:56:24.159
and eventually, in nineteen fifty seven, a full skeletal reconstruction,59000:56:24.880 --> 00:56:30.000
Martino determined Nicholas had been a man of small stature,59100:56:30.760 --> 00:56:34.800
roughly five feet six inches tall or one point six59200:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.800
seven meters. He was slightly built, certainly not the plump,59300:56:40.159 --> 00:56:46.320
round bellied figure of modern Santa myth. Tantalizingly, though, Martino59400:56:46.440 --> 00:56:51.519
observed that the nasal bones showed evidence of healed fractures,59500:56:52.480 --> 00:56:56.079
meaning Nicholas had had a broken nose at some point59600:56:56.199 --> 00:57:00.920
in his life. This detailed dovetails with the evil legends59700:57:01.360 --> 00:57:04.599
that at the Council of Nicea in three twenty five,59800:57:05.119 --> 00:57:09.199
Nicholas became so angry at the heretic Arius that he59900:57:09.360 --> 00:57:12.760
slapped and punched him in the face, earning a brief60000:57:12.840 --> 00:57:17.880
imprisonment for his outburst. While we can't be certain how60100:57:18.000 --> 00:57:23.400
Nicholas's nose was broken, the physical evidence of injury adds60200:57:23.480 --> 00:57:29.039
color to his character. He may have been mild with children,60300:57:29.159 --> 00:57:35.320
but apparently had a temper when defending his faith. From60400:57:35.360 --> 00:57:39.840
the skull dimensions, Forensic anthropologists in recent years have even60500:57:39.920 --> 00:57:45.760
produced facial reconstructions of Saint Nicholas. They depict a Middle60600:57:45.760 --> 00:57:49.559
Eastern man with a prominent brow, sunk in cheeks, and60700:57:49.719 --> 00:57:55.159
graying hair, far from the rosy cheeked Grandpa Frost of60800:57:55.360 --> 00:58:02.320
Christmas cards, and yet seeing that face can an uncanny realization.60900:58:03.559 --> 00:58:08.639
Santa Claus, so to speak, was real, not as a61000:58:08.679 --> 00:58:13.639
magical elf, but as a flesh and blood human whose61100:58:13.719 --> 00:58:20.639
bones still lie mostly in Bari. In December of two61200:58:20.679 --> 00:58:26.599
thousand seventeen, scientists at Oxford University radio carbon dated a61300:58:26.679 --> 00:58:31.800
fragment of Saint Nicholas's pelvic bone that was being kept61400:58:31.840 --> 00:58:36.960
in a church in Illinois. The test confirmed the bone61500:58:37.039 --> 00:58:42.079
dates to the fourth century AD, around the time Nicholas died,61600:58:42.760 --> 00:58:49.679
traditionally dated as three forty three AD. Since Bari's collection61700:58:49.880 --> 00:58:52.800
is missing part of its left hip bone and the61800:58:52.840 --> 00:58:56.559
Illinois fragment is from the left pubis, it could well61900:58:56.719 --> 00:59:02.119
be the matching piece of the same Pelvis. Researchers hope62000:59:02.159 --> 00:59:06.360
to conduct DNA analysis in the future to verify whether62100:59:06.519 --> 00:59:10.719
all these far flung pieces from Bahri and Venice to62200:59:10.920 --> 00:59:16.599
Illinois come from the same individual. If they did, it62300:59:16.639 --> 00:59:22.000
would further vindicate the medieval holy thieves who swore they62400:59:22.039 --> 00:59:34.519
had the true Saint Nicholas. Science, of course, cannot prove62500:59:34.639 --> 00:59:39.519
a bone is absolutely Saint Nicholas. It can only rule62600:59:39.559 --> 00:59:43.960
out what is false. So far, nothing in the relics62700:59:44.000 --> 00:59:48.119
has contradicted the claim that these are the bones of62800:59:48.239 --> 00:59:52.679
Santa Claus. By all accounts, they are from the right time,62900:59:53.239 --> 00:59:58.000
the right age. Analysis suggests Nicholas was in his seventies63000:59:58.119 --> 01:00:02.960
when he died. Consists stant with tradition and even the63101:00:03.039 --> 01:00:07.280
right personality, a face with a busted nose that lines63201:00:07.360 --> 01:00:12.039
up with old legends for millions of believers. However, no63301:00:12.199 --> 01:00:17.480
test is needed. The miracles and the mana speak louder63401:00:18.079 --> 01:00:25.599
than carbon dates, Yet even miracles sometimes come under skeptical scrutiny.63501:00:26.440 --> 01:00:31.559
The Venetians, as noted, never witnessed Nicholas's relics produce any63601:00:31.679 --> 01:00:36.639
manna at all. And while Bahri's clergy insists the phenomenon63701:00:36.960 --> 01:00:42.960
is ancient and continuous, the bones have always leaked, As63801:00:43.039 --> 01:00:48.800
one account put it, there have been some eyebrow raising discoveries.63901:00:50.000 --> 01:00:53.880
In two thousand and two, chemists analyzed an old flask64001:00:54.039 --> 01:00:58.559
of supposed Saint Nicholas manna that was kept in Venice,64101:00:59.119 --> 01:01:03.039
said to date that to the eleven hundreds. The test64201:01:03.119 --> 01:01:09.840
revealed it wasn't mysterious mirr at all, but ordinary vegetable64301:01:09.880 --> 01:01:15.440
oil from the fourteenth century. This suggests that at some64401:01:15.679 --> 01:01:22.000
point someone in Venice either faked Nicholas's mana or substituted64501:01:22.039 --> 01:01:27.199
something for it, perhaps as a devotional practice or even64601:01:28.079 --> 01:01:32.800
as a scam. In Bahre's case, as we've seen, the64701:01:32.880 --> 01:01:38.719
mana is almost certainly water seeping. In Barre's crypt lies64801:01:38.800 --> 01:01:43.199
only a few hundred yards from the Adriatic Sea, and64901:01:43.280 --> 01:01:49.000
the water table is high. The stone sarcophagus is air tight.65001:01:49.559 --> 01:01:54.199
Engineers found no cracks in it during the nineteen fifties exam,65101:01:54.840 --> 01:02:00.320
but moisture can infiltrate via the marble platform. The thus65201:02:00.360 --> 01:02:06.480
applausible natural explanation is that the manna is basically filtered65301:02:06.559 --> 01:02:13.960
seawater collecting inside the tomb by capillary action supporting this.65401:02:14.440 --> 01:02:18.079
When Nicholas's bones were taken out in nineteen fifty three,65501:02:18.880 --> 01:02:26.320
they continued to perspire copiously for some time, the linen65601:02:26.360 --> 01:02:32.440
cloths wrapping them became soaking wet. For all that, many65701:02:32.559 --> 01:02:39.239
Bahri faithful remain unfazed whether mana is condensation or not.65801:02:40.000 --> 01:02:44.960
They consider it sanctified by contact with the saint. In65901:02:45.039 --> 01:02:49.760
their eyes, it's a gift from Nicholas, a yearly reminder66001:02:49.800 --> 01:02:54.320
of his presence among them. If anything, though, the biggest66101:02:54.400 --> 01:03:00.519
threat to Nicholas's relics is not skepticism but the silent66201:03:00.679 --> 01:03:06.920
decay of time. In nineteen fifty seven, after the restoration66301:03:07.039 --> 01:03:11.360
of the Basilica, the bones were re entombed in Bahi's66401:03:11.400 --> 01:03:17.800
crypt and have remained sealed away ever since. Decades later,66501:03:17.920 --> 01:03:21.719
in two thousand and four, a team making a BBC66601:03:22.039 --> 01:03:27.119
documentary The Real Face of Santa were granted permission to66701:03:27.199 --> 01:03:32.119
insert a tiny fiber optic camera into the tomb to66801:03:32.280 --> 01:03:36.840
check on the condition of the relics. What they saw66901:03:37.719 --> 01:03:43.960
alarmed them. Doctor Franco Introna, a forensic anthropologist on the team,67001:03:44.679 --> 01:03:49.599
reported that Saint Nicholas's bones were lying in pools of water.67101:03:50.960 --> 01:03:55.880
The continual manna had created a shallow bath, and some67201:03:56.039 --> 01:04:01.400
bones showed signs of further deterioration. Since the nineteen fifties,67301:04:02.599 --> 01:04:06.039
in Trona worried that if nothing was done, the last67401:04:06.119 --> 01:04:11.639
remains of Saint Nicholas could disintegrate within a century. I67501:04:11.679 --> 01:04:15.840
am a little bit sad, in Trona, confessed, observing the67601:04:15.880 --> 01:04:21.760
eroding relics. These bones don't belong to Bai. They belonged67701:04:21.840 --> 01:04:24.880
to all the world and to all the people that67801:04:25.000 --> 01:04:31.159
love Saint Nicholas. In two thousand and seventeen, perhaps in67901:04:31.239 --> 01:04:35.800
part due to such concerns, Bai loaned a fragment of68001:04:35.920 --> 01:04:41.440
Nicholas a rib to the Russian Orthodox Church for veneration.68101:04:42.679 --> 01:04:45.559
It was the first time in nine hundred and thirty68201:04:45.679 --> 01:04:50.199
years any part of the BAI relics had left the city.68301:04:51.440 --> 01:04:54.679
Over a million Russians lined up in Moscow for a68401:04:54.760 --> 01:04:59.559
fleeting glimpse of the golden reliquary holding that single rib.68501:05:01.039 --> 01:05:07.400
The overwhelming response underscored how deeply Nicholas, not just Santa Claus,68601:05:07.480 --> 01:05:13.599
but Saint Nicholas himself is loved and revered around the world.68701:05:14.800 --> 01:05:19.559
He's a rare figure who bridges cultures at once a68801:05:19.679 --> 01:05:25.239
Christian saint honored in ornate cathedral liturgies, and an icon68901:05:25.360 --> 01:05:31.840
of cheerful generosity celebrated in shopping malls and movies. The69001:05:31.880 --> 01:05:36.280
tale of Saint Nicholas's Relics is thus a strangely poignant69101:05:36.360 --> 01:05:42.159
Christmas story in its own right. It has darkness, thieves69201:05:42.239 --> 01:05:46.519
breaking into a sacred shrine by night, monks weeping over69301:05:46.559 --> 01:05:50.400
a great loss, bones hidden and broken and fought over.69401:05:51.760 --> 01:05:56.000
It has wonder the mysterious manner exuding from a tomb,69501:05:56.559 --> 01:06:04.199
storms calmed and signs given, miracles proclaimed by the faithful.69601:06:04.280 --> 01:06:07.960
It has a legacy that endures in both solemn ritual69701:06:08.320 --> 01:06:13.840
and lighthearted tradition. Every year in Bahri, as the Feast69801:06:13.920 --> 01:06:19.920
of Translation comes, locals reenact the arrival of Nicholas's Relics69901:06:20.000 --> 01:06:24.000
carrying his statue from the harbor, just as the sailors70001:06:24.039 --> 01:06:29.800
did in ten eighty seven. And every year on Christmas Eve,70101:06:30.440 --> 01:06:35.000
children hang stockings for Santa Claus, never guessing that the70201:06:35.039 --> 01:06:39.639
inspiration for their benevolent gift giver lies in a crypt70301:06:39.880 --> 01:06:46.320
in Italy, in a box of wet bones. The contrast70401:06:47.119 --> 01:06:52.360
is haunting Santa the symbol of innocent joy owes his70501:06:52.480 --> 01:06:58.079
existence to a long ago crime, a furta sacra, committed70601:06:58.119 --> 01:07:02.679
by men who paradie doxically believed it was the holiest70701:07:02.840 --> 01:07:08.320
thing they could do. Those Bahis sailors truly felt they70801:07:08.360 --> 01:07:14.000
were rescuing Saint Nicholas, not robbing him. In medieval thinking,70901:07:14.039 --> 01:07:17.840
the Saint himself sanctioned their act, choosing to move where71001:07:17.880 --> 01:07:23.599
his relics could shine more brightly. Indeed, had Nicholas's bones71101:07:23.679 --> 01:07:29.840
stayed in Myra under Turkish rule, his cult might have faded. Instead,71201:07:29.960 --> 01:07:34.360
the West gained a patron saint, and eventually the world71301:07:35.159 --> 01:07:39.480
gained Santa Claus. The sailors could never have imagined that71401:07:39.519 --> 01:07:43.719
their rough deed would echo through the ages in such71501:07:43.920 --> 01:07:49.320
cheerful guise. As we reflect on this saga, the mood71601:07:49.519 --> 01:07:57.039
is bitter, sweet, festive, yet unsettling. In the quiet Basilica71701:07:57.079 --> 01:08:01.480
of San Nicola, a flask of clear Mana sits on71801:08:01.519 --> 01:08:04.960
a shelf in the gift shop, ready to be purchased71901:08:05.079 --> 01:08:10.960
by hopeful pilgrims. Above, in the apse, a grand painted72001:08:11.000 --> 01:08:17.640
ceiling shows Saint Nicholas himself gazing down benignly. According to72101:08:17.720 --> 01:08:22.640
one local legend, Nicholas once appeared in a dream and72201:08:22.800 --> 01:08:26.760
predicted that his bones would one day rest in Bahri.72301:08:28.199 --> 01:08:33.800
True or not, that prophecy was fulfilled by human daring.72401:08:34.760 --> 01:08:38.600
The relics of Saint Nicholas remain in Bahri to this day,72501:08:39.359 --> 01:08:44.640
silent witnesses to an extraordinary journey. Each bone fragment, whether72601:08:44.720 --> 01:08:49.920
in Italy, Venice, or scattered across Europe, tells a story72701:08:49.960 --> 01:08:54.479
of faith strong enough to steal and hope strong enough72801:08:54.479 --> 01:08:59.560
to endure the ages. Next time you hear of Santa72901:08:59.560 --> 01:09:05.359
Claus coming on Christmas Eve, remember that his story did73001:09:05.399 --> 01:09:10.239
not begin at the North Pole, but in an ancient73101:09:10.399 --> 01:09:16.159
tomb by the Mediterranean Sea. It is there, in the73201:09:16.199 --> 01:09:21.199
flicker of oil lamps and the whispers of praying monks,73301:09:22.239 --> 01:09:27.199
that the legend of Saint Nicholas became entwined with miracles73401:09:28.319 --> 01:09:34.720
and mischief. Terrifying and True is narrated by Enrique Kuto.73501:09:35.039 --> 01:09:38.520
It's executive produced by Rob Fields and bobble Topia dot73601:09:38.560 --> 01:09:42.199
com and produced by Dan Wilder, with original theme music73701:09:42.279 --> 01:09:44.920
by Ray Mattis. If you have a story you think73801:09:44.960 --> 01:09:47.720
we should cover on Terrifying and True, send us an73901:09:47.720 --> 01:09:51.359
email at Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com and if74001:09:51.399 --> 01:09:52.920
you want to support us for as little as one74101:09:52.960 --> 01:09:56.079
dollar a month, go to Weeklyspooky dot com slash join.74201:09:56.319 --> 01:09:58.560
Your support for as little as one dollar a month74301:09:58.640 --> 01:10:01.159
keeps the show going. Speaking of I want to say74401:10:01.159 --> 01:10:04.359
an extra special thank you to our Patreon podcast boosters,74501:10:04.439 --> 01:10:06.239
folks who pay a little bit more to hear their74601:10:06.319 --> 01:10:08.000
name at the end of the show. And they are74701:10:08.279 --> 01:10:13.119
Johnny Nix, Kate and Lulu, Jessica Fuller, Mike Escuey, Jenny Green,74801:10:13.279 --> 01:10:16.840
Amber Hansburg, Karen we Met, Jack Ker, and Craig Cohen.74901:10:16.880 --> 01:10:19.119
Thank you all so much and thank you for listening.75001:10:19.279 --> 01:10:22.760
We'll see you all right here next time on Terrifying75101:10:22.880 --> 01:10:24.760
and True
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