Bartholomew
Saint Bartholomew<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"> Michelangelo's The Last Judgement shows Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. The face of the skin is recognizable as Michelangelo.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:gold;">Gift of God (Nathaniel)</td></tr> | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | in Albanopolis, Armenia<tr><td>Venerated in</td> <td>Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Anglican Church</td></tr><tr><td>Major shrine</td><td>Relics at Saint Bartholomew-on-the-Tiber Church, Rome, and in the cathedral in Canterbury, England</td></tr> |
| Feast | August 24 (Roman);June 11 (Orthodox)<tr><td>Attributes</td> <td>One of the Twelve Apostles. Probably a close friend of Saint Philip; his name is always mentioned in the Gospels in connection with him, and it was Philip brought Bartholomew to Jesus.</td></tr><tr><td>Patronage</td><td>Armenia; bookbinders; butchers; cobblers; Florentine cheese merchants; Florentine salt merchants; Gambatesa, Italy; leather workers; nervous diseases; neurological diseases; plasterers; shoemakers; tanners; trappers; twitching; whiteners</td></tr> |
 Saints Portal | |
- For other uses, see Bartholomew (disambiguation).
Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bartholomew (Greek "Βαρθολομαίος," Transliterated "Bartholomaios") comes from the Aramaic bar-Tôlmay, meaning son of Tolmay (Ptolemy) or son of the furrows (perhaps a ploughman).
He is generally supposed to have been the same person as Nathanael. In the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Philip and Bartholomew are always mentioned together, while Nathanael is never mentioned; in the gospel of John, on the other hand, Philip and Nathanael are similarly mentioned together, but nothing is said of Bartholomew.
Apart from being listed among the Twelve, Bartholomew appears as one of the witnesses of the ascension (Acts 1:4, 12, 13).
In the Gospel of John (John 1:45-51), Nathanael is introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?". He follows Philip nonetheless and goes on to proclaim Jesus as "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel". In this passage, Jesus characterizes him as "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit". Some scholars hold that Jesus' quote "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you", is based on Jewish figure of speech referring studying the Torah. Nathanael reappears at the end of John's gospel (John 21:2) as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Tiberias after the resurrection.
According to Syrian tradition, Bartholomew's original name was Jesus, which caused him to adopt another name.
Tradition has it that after the ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.
Bartholomew, along with Saint Jude Thaddeus is reputed to have brought the new religion of Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus the Armenian Church is called the Armenian "Apostolic" Church, as both saints are considered to be the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In works of art he is often represented with a large knife, or, as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment, with his own skin (thought to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo) hanging over his arm, tradition holds that in Armenia he was flayed alive and then crucified with his head upside down. This fate has led to him being adopted as the patron saint of tanners.
The festival of St. Bartholomew is celebrated on August 24. The holiday has a relatively bloody history, being the date of the impalement of 30,000 Transylvanians by Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) as well as that of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The festival however has also been a traditional occasion for markets and fairs; such a fair serves as the scene for Bartholomew Fair, a play by Ben Jonson.
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"Bartholomew" in various languages
- American English: Bartholomew (learned); Bart (vernacular)
- Amharic: በርተሎሜዎስ (Berteloméwos)
- Armenian: Բարթողիմէոս [pʰɑɾtʰoʁimɛjos] Partoghimeos
- Catalan: Bartomeu
- Croatian: Bartolomej
- Czech: Bartoloměj
- Danish: Bartolomæus
- Dutch: Bartolomeüs
- Finnish: Perttu
- French: Barthélemy
- German: Bartolomäus
- Greek: Βαρθολομαίος
- Hungarian: Bertalan (given name), Bartal, Bartos, Bartó (last names)
- Irish Gaelic: Bairtliméad or Parthálan
- Italian: Bartolomeo
- Korean: 바르톨로메오(learned); 바돌로메(vernacular)
- Latin: Bartolomaeus
- Latvian: Bartlomejs
- Loretano Peruvian Spanish: Bartuco (vernacular)
- Maltese: Bartoloméw (learned); Bartilméw (vernacular)
- Norwegian: Bartolomeus
- Polish: Bartłomiej (learned); Bartosz (vernacular)
- Portuguese: Bartolomeu
- Provençal: Barthomieu
- Romanian: Bartolomeu
- Russian: Варфоломей (Varfolomei)
- Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlan
- Slovak: Bartolomej
- Spanish: Bartolomé
- Serbian: Вартоломеј (in Cyrillic), Vartolomej (in Roman letters)
- Slovak: Bartolomej
- Slovene: Jernej
- Swedish: Bartolomaios, Bartolomeus (older transcription)
Famous individuals called "Bartholomew"
- St. Bartholomew the Apostle
- Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
- Bartholomew Roberts (referred to as Black Bart), was an infamous early eighteenth century pirate who traveled the coasts of North and South America, as well as the Caribbean. Roberts was third mate for the Royal Africa Company aboard the slave ship Princess of London when he was captured off Ghana by Howell Davis, another prominent pirate and then forced to join Davis' group. Following Davis' death, Roberts became Howel's successor. Black Bart was killed in 1722 aboard his ship off the coast of Africa.
- Bartholomew Mosse (Irish, 1712-1759), founder of Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital, the first maternity facility in Europe.
- Bartholomew Cubbins (beloved fictional character in Dr. Seuss's children's book).
- Bartholomew and the "Oobleck" (fictional character in Dr. Seuss's children's book).
- Bartholomew J. Simpson, better known as Bart, fictional character on The Simpsons
Place names associated with Bartholomew
- St Bartholomew's Hospital. Located in London, England, it was founded in 1123 by a monk called Rahere. “St. Bart’s” has been catering for the sick and injured on its present site for almost nine centuries.
Other sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary,1897.
- Encyclopedia Anglicana, 1911
- Dictionary of First Names, Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. Oxford University Press, 1996
External links
- The Martyrdom of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Bartholomew, attributed to Pseudo-Abdias, one of the minor Church Fathers
- St. Bartholomew's Connections in India
| Apostles of Jesus Christ | |
|---|---|
| Evangelists: John | Matthew | Mark | Luke Others: Simon Peter | Andrew | James | Philip | Bartholomew | Thomas James son of Alphaeus | Simon the Zealot | Thaddaeus | Judas Iscariot | |
Categories
Armenian saints | Catholicoi of Armenia | Christian martyrs | People executed by crucifixion | Followers of Jesus | Given names | Saints | Saints from the Holy Land | Surnames