Whilst
researching my murder mystery Naming the Dead, set in 1600s Amsterdam, I
was surprised to discover that the northernmost low country states continued to
celebrate a Catholic saint after winning independence from Spain. Dutch
children still received presents, supposedly from Sinterklaas, on his
feast day of 6 December. This seemed a strange anomaly, given the way bitter enmity
between the Protestant Dutch and Catholic Habsburgs fuelled eighty years of
bloody conflict.
Like many, I knew
red clothing and reindeer names were relatively recent inventions, but not the
earlier history of the Santa Claus tradition. I included a suitably snowy Sinterklaas
scene in Naming the Dead, and tried to learn more.
Bishop of Myra
The original Saint
Nicholas is believed to have been a Roman Empire-era bishop in the city of
Myra, in modern day Turkey. Concerned that the daughters of a poor merchant
might be sold into slavery, Nicholas provided dowry money anonymously. He
became one of numerous saints recognised by the Catholic church, providing particular
protection to sailors, merchants, children and unmarried people who prayed to
him.
Reformation Divide
The Catholic consensus
fractured in 1517, when Martin Luther is said to have triggered the Reformation
by pinning 95 criticisms to the door of Wittenberg church. The new Protestant
Lutheran tradition spread through northern European nations and states, with a
stronger emphasis on the authority of the bible, translated into local
languages, rather than historical Church traditions.
Subsequently, John
Calvin and other theologians in Switzerland went further, developing the distinctive
Reformed Protestant tradition most commonly associated with the doctrine of
predestination. In addition, it emphasised preaching, bible study and godly
living, rather than rituals, priests, saints and hierarchical governance. The
Dutch Reformed Church adopted this new Protestant tradition, along with French
Huguenots, Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans.
Sinterklaas
Undoubtedly, the
official Dutch Reformed Church played a significant role in the success of the
Dutch Republic, as the new nation grew to eclipse its neighbours in art,
engineering, trade and wealth. However, the way Dutch Protestants continued to
mark Sinterklaas’ feast day led me to believe they were not as austere
and strict as often portrayed. What lay behind this?
Superstitious
sailors and merchants may have played a role in Saint Nicholas’ on-going
popularity. Both professions were key to the Republic’s economic success. If a
ship survived a voyage to the East Indies after they prayed to the patron saint,
why risk not praying when it set sail again?
Also, there was
less central political and religious control in the Dutch Republic than elsewhere.
Amsterdam, in the province of North Holland, even allowed Jews, Catholics and
Muslims to follow their own religious practices providing they were discrete. With
the highest literacy rate in Europe, the largely urban Dutch middle-class read
widely, and followed fashions in clothing, art and interior design. Confident burghers
and guildsmen built their own businesses and invested at the stock exchange. If
independently-minded families wished to pass on Sinterklaas traditions, who
could stop them? Reformed Protestant preachers could influence their
congregations, but not dictate in the same way as English bishops.
Crossing the
Atlantic
From 1624, Dutch
settlers took the Sinterklaas tradition to their most famous colony New
Amsterdam. English Pilgrims and Puritans settled further up the coast. They renamed
the Dutch colony New York, after acquiring it in 1664, and adopted Sinterklaas,
renaming him Santa Claus.
Without the 17th century Dutch Republic’s contribution, present-giving saint would not have reached the English-speaking world. Personally, I am grateful for the way its citizens enabled the tradition to cross the Reformation divide. Hopefully, ‘he’ will bring more history and historical fiction books this year.
Karen Haden’s historical crime novel Naming the Dead, set in early 1600s Amsterdam, is available from Sharpe Books on Kindle Unlimited and to buy at Karen Haden Books