Balthazar (magus) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Saint Balthazar
Balthazar in The Adoration of the Three Kings by Girolamo da Santacroce
Three Magi, Three Kings, Three Wise Men
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion Lutheran Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Major shrine	Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral
Feast	6 January (Epiphany) 6 January (date of his death)
Attributes	King bearing gifts, king on a camel, three crowns
Patronage	Epilepsy, thunder, motorists, pilgrims, playing card manufacturers, sawmen, sawyers, travellers, travelling merchants, Cologne, Germany, Saxony

Saint Balthazar; also called Balthasar, Balthassar, and Bithisarea, was according to Western Christian tradition one of the biblical Magi along with Caspar and Melchior who visited the infant Jesus after he was born. Balthazar is traditionally referred to as the King of Macedonia and gave the gift of myrrh to Jesus. In the Roman Catholic Church, he is regarded as a saint (as are the other two Magi).

Tradition

The Gospel of Matthew does not give the names of the Magi (or even how many there were), but their traditional names are ascribed to a Greek manuscript from 500 AD translated into Latin and commonly accepted as the source of the names. In this original manuscript, Balthazar is called Bithisarea, which later developed into Balthazar in Western Christianity. Balthazar was described in the 8th century by Saint Bede as being "[of] black complexion, with [a] heavy beard" with the "myrrh he held in his hands prefigured the death of the Son of man".

As part of the Magi, Balthazar followed the Star of Bethlehem first to the palace of Herod the Great who instructed them to return to him when they had found the Child Jesus. When they arrive at the house, the Magi worshipped him and presented their gifts. Balthazar gave the gift of myrrh, which symbolised the future death of a king, as myrrh was an expensive item at the time. Following his return to his own country, avoiding King Herod, it is purported that Balthazar celebrated Christmas with the other members of the Magi in Armenia in 54 AD but later died on 6 January 55 AD, aged 112. The feast day of Balthazar is also 6 January, as the date of his death.

Balthasar and Gaspar are characters in the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and the various film adaptions of the novel, which chronicles his later years.

Commemoration

Balthazar, along with the other Magi, are purported to be buried in the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral following his remains being moved from Constantinople by Eustorgius I in 344 AD to Milan. In 1164, Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa moved them to Cologne. Balthazar is commemorated on Epiphany with the other members of the Magi but in Catholicism, Balthazar's feast day is on 6 January because it was the day that he died.

See also

In Spanish: Rey Baltasar para niños

• San Baltasar