Nikolaos of Myra was a fourth-century Christian, apparently, imprisoned by Emperor Diocletian and freed by his successor Constantine the Great. Though no contemporary documentary evidence exists, as with all tales in the Christian religion, it is said that he attended the Council of Nicaea and became bishop of Myra. In death, he was worshipped throughout Europe and was transported to America by Dutch colonists where he became Santa Claus in place of the Dutch Sinterklaas (a variant of St Nicholas). The nineteenth century Americans would transform an old saint into Father Christmas; and the rest, as they say, is history.