Strictly speaking, the Gospel of Matthew does not identify the Wise Men from the East as rich and
powerful kings, nor does it mention their names or even their number. Although some Eastern Christian traditions assert
that there were twelve (or even thirteen), Western Christians have commonly assumed (from the number of gifts bestowed)
that there must have been three.
Their now familiar names, Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar, first appear in early fifth-century sources
(as in the Excerpta Latina Barbari where they are named Bithisarea, Melichior and Gathaspa) and their
representation as kings was derived from Old Testament texts (notably
Psalms 72:10-11 &
Isaiah 60:1-6).
From the 6th century onwards they came to represent the three ages of man (youth, middle age and old age)
and the races of mankind from the three regions of the known world (Europe, Africa and Asia).
According to the 12th-century Vita Eustorgi, the supposed remains of the bodies of the Three
Kings were discovered in the early 4th century in the East by St. Helena, the mother of emperor
Constantine I, and were transferred to the Church of St. Sofia in Constantinople. When St. Eustorgius
became bishop of Milan he obtained permission from the emperor to take the remains of the Three Kings with him to that
city. There they remained until 1164 when they were removed to Cologne after the city of Milan was
looted by the army
of Frederic Barbarossa. There they are now preserved and revered in the Cathedral of Cologne in a magnificent golden
shrine on which several artisans (including Nicholas of Verdun) worked between the 1180’s and the 1220’s.
The Historia trium regum
The best-known and most detailed medieval account of the legendary travels of the Three Kings was the
Historia trium regum, written around 1370 by the Carmelite scholar John of Hildesheim. The work enjoyed great
popularity in the late medieval period and was also translated into German, Dutch, French, English and Danish.
According to the account of John of Hildesheim, the star was first sighted in the 42nd year of
Octavian (Augustus) from the summit of mount Vaus in the East by a group of heathen astrologers, who, mindful of the Old
Testament prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24:17), had for many generations watched the heavens for a sign of the Messiah.
After
reports of the star, which had shone as bright as the Sun, had reached Melchior (king of Nubia and Arabia), Balthasar
(king of Godolia and Saba) and Caspar (king of Tharsis and Egrisoulle), they each (and unknown to each other) set out
on the same day with a magnificent following to Jerusalem. Guided by the star they each completed the journey in only
13 days and arrived at the same time near the outskirts of Jerusalem where they met and discovered that they could
understand each other's languages. After their audience with King Herod, and instructed by his scribes, they continued
their journey to Bethlehem, again guided by the star.
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