We all know about the magical gift giver that he inspired, but who exactly was Saint Nicholas? Meet the man whose life and times became the legend of Santa Claus.

Not much is known about Saint Nicholas. It doesn’t help that the first account of his life was penned 350 years after he died. Scholars are still trying to figure out if he even existed at all. This much we do know: St. Nicholas was (probably) born sometime in the 3rd century AD and was known as Nikolaos of Myra. He served as a bishop for the town of Myra, which is in what is now Turkey. After he died on December 6th, 343 (probably), the people of Myra named a church after him.

Beyond that, the truth and myths surrounding Nikolaos start to blend together. There are lots of wild tales about the saint. Here are a few.

• His commitment to his faith didn’t go unnoticed. When the previous Bishop of Myra died, a local council scrambled to find a replacement. A mysterious voice commanded them to hire the next guy named Nikolas who walked through the door. Moments later, Nikolaos showed up.

• During a food shortage, a butcher got so desperate to feed his customers that he kidnapped three children and stuck them in his cellar with the intent to turn them into meat pies. Nikolaos went looking for them and burst into the cellar, but it was too late. Without skipping a beat, Nikolaos brought the kids back to life and returned them to their parents.

• Kids loved Nikolaos and he was known for his charity. Sound familiar? Here’s another way he inspired the Santa legend. After overhearing a poor merchant pray for a dowry for his daughter, Nick snuck into the merchant’s house that night and left a bag of gold coins on his windowsill. Convinced it was a miracle, the merchant prayed for a dowry again for his other daughter. Nikolaos repeated the act. When he prayed for a third dowry, he got suspicious and staked out his own house, where he saw Nikolaos drop a bag of coins down the chimney, where they landed in the daughter’s stockings, which she had left by the fireplace to dry.