Cover image of "Nicked," an 11th century heist story

M. T. Anderson won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for one novel and was a finalist for two others. But he writes for adults too, and brilliantly, as his most recent work makes clear. Nicked is historical fiction. But it’s also fantasy. And it blurs the line into folk tales as well. The result is an over-the-top heist story set in the 11th century in the declining days of the Byzantine Empire. And it’s all the more laughable for being almost all true. Because, believe it or not, churchmen and fortune-hunters set out from Italy to steal the corpse of Saint Nicholas from its tomb on the Byzantine shore. The Seljuk Turks had invaded the empire but were still fighting for control. However, there’s more than one band of Italians intent on the heist. And if the thieves expect chaos, that’s exactly what they get.

Big Business, medieval style

Now why, you might ask, would Italians (or anyone else, for that matter) want to steal a corpse? If you’re familiar even a little with Church history, you’re probably aware that for centuries during the long Middle Ages, Christians worshipped what they regarded as holy relics. (Some still do today.) These were usually the bones of saints. And there was no lack of candidates. According to Britannica, “there are more than 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.” There were fewer a thousand years ago, but still more than 1,000 for sure. And sometimes as little as a finger bone satisfied the credulous. They would flock to the shrines that showcased the relics—and the faithful would gladly contribute sometimes large sums in gratitude. Many believed their illnesses cured or their lame or injured limbs made whole by the intercession of the saint. This made relic hunting Big Business.

Nicked by M. T. Anderson (2024) 241 pages ★★★★☆

Diagram of a large Benedictine monastery, perhaps like the one in Bari in this heist story
Layout of a large medieval Benedictine monastery. Image: UC Davis

A heist story that’s tough to summarize—and too much fun

The bare facts gleaned from history are strange enough. But Anderson builds on them a tale that’s even stranger, as you can guess from this list of the principal characters:

  • Brother Nicephorus, a lowly clerk in the Benedictine monastery at Bari, on the heel of Italy. The brother has a dream about Saint Nicholas, which his abbot elaborates into a call to liberate the saint’s bones. Brother Nicephorus objects, but weakly.
  • The saint hunter Tyun, who is “some sort of Tartar.” Tyun is a fortune-hunter—a thief, really—who steals relics from those who have them on behalf of others who want them.
  • Tyun is accompanied by Reprobus, a dog-man. He’s “one of the dog-headed people whom travelers speak of when they tell tall tales of the one-eyed and the winged.” (Remember: I warned you. Anderson appropriates fantasy and folk tales in telling his story.)
  • The Norman Duke of Apulia, who rules the city of Bari. Imagine a corporate raider in the 11th century, and you’ve got the picture.
  • “The Factor,” Rollo de Bailleul. “He would be in charge of the expedition as a whole. The saint hunter and his team of trained martyrologists would oversee the theft—the liberation—of Nicholas itself. But Bari was paying the saint hunter too well to trust him.” Hence, the Factor, who trusts no one.
  • Patrizio Matteo Tradonico, the strutting teenage princeling who commands the Venetian expedition.

Oh, there are others. Even the minor characters in this fast-moving heist story have . . . well, character in Anderson’s tale. And he blends battle scenes, desperate chases, and two love stories into the mix. It’s a glorious gallimaufry.

Photo of the Lycian tombs in the city of Myra where the saint hunters from Italy went to steal Saint Nicholas in this heist story
Photo of the Lycian tombs in the ancient city of Myra, where Brother Nicephorus accompanied the saint hunter to retrieve the bones of Saint Nicholas. Image: Britannica

Just the facts, m’am

History (and M. T. Anderson) tell us that “In the year 1087, an expedition from the Italian city of Bari actually did sail to Lycia and steal the corpse of Saint Nicholas. . . The saint’s bones still repose in the crypt of the beautifully severe church . . . built for them in Bari.” And Anderson’s central character, the monk Brother Nicephorus, “the lowliest clerk of Bari,” left one of the contemporaneous accounts of the expedition on which Anderson bases his story. Another monk left a detailed account of the Venetian expedition. Anderson notes that he “followed their accounts quite closely in writing this historical novel.”

According to one account online, the bones at both Venice and Bari actually came from the same skeleton. Scientific investigators reached this conclusion in the 20th century. And the Saint Nicholas Center, in a long article about the saint’s current whereabouts, notes that raiders from Bari in 1087 pulled off the heist. They grabbed some of Saint Nicholas’ remains but not all. Then, 13 years later, a team of merchants from Venice stole the rest. The result is that, in fact, both cities can legitimately claim to possess the relics.

However, according to an article in The Smithsonian, archaeologists working in Turkey in the site where the saint’s bones were allegedly buried reported that “the body was not stolen by crusaders in the 11th century and is still located below a church in Demre.” (Hmm. Would Turkey admit these precious relics reside in Italy? Not likely.) And most accounts of the dispute today credit both Bari and Venice as repositories of the saint’s remains.

About the author

Photo of M. T. Anderson, author of this over-the-top heist story
M. T. Anderson. Image: Sonya Sones – author’s website

Matthew Tobin (M. T.) Anderson is a marvel. As one critic wrote in reviewing this book, “M.T. Anderson is simply one of the best writers working today in any genre.” The man seems incapable of writing a bad novel, and readers seem to agree, He has won or been nominated for major literary awards for nearly every one of the six books he has published, including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature once and a Finalist twice.. But he writes for both adults and young readers.

Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1968 and attended Harvard, the University of Cambridge (in England, not Massachusetts), and Syracuse University. He lives in Cambridge. The one in the United States.

I’ve read and greatly enjoyed two science fiction novels by M. T. Anderson: Feed (A terrifying vision of the future in an award-winning young adult novel) and Landscape with Invisible Hand (A clever new take on an alien invasion in a humorous young adult novel).

For another, even funnier novel about saint hunters, see The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley (An irreligious take on Catholic history).

For books somewhat similar to Nicked (if any book could be said to resemble it), see:

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