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BARTHOLOMEW 316

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R. BUTIN.


Bartholomew of Lucca (or de Fiadonibu.s, some- times abbreviated Ptolomeo or Tolomeo), historian, b. about 1227 at Lucca; d. about 1327. At an early age lie entered the Dominican Order. He was dis- tinguished for piety, and his intense appHcation to study, for which reasons he won the respect and warm friendship of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was not only his disciple, but also his confidant and confessor (Pto- lom.. H. E., XXIII, viii). In 1272 he accompanied St. Thomas from Rome to Naples where he still was in 1274, when the news of his master's death at Fossa Nuova reached him. He was elected prior of the con- vent of his native city in 12SS. At Naples (1294), he took an active part in the public demonstration which was made to prevent PopeCelestine V from resigning. In 1301 he was elected Prior of Santa Maria Novella at Florence. Later he removed to Avignon where he was chaplain for nine years (1309-18) to Cardinal Patrasso, Bishop of Albano, and after the Cardinal's death in 1311 to his fellow-religious Cardinal William of Bayonne. Echard affirms that he was the close friend and often the confessor of John XXII, who appointed him Bishop of Torcello, March 1.5, 131S. A conflict with the Patriarch of Grado concerning the appointment of an abbess of St. Anthony's at Tor- cello led to his excommunication in 1321, and exile. In 1323 he made peace with the patriarch, returned to his see. and died there in 1327.

The best-known work of Bartholomew is his "An- nales" (1061-1303), finished about 1307, wherein are recorded in terse sentences the chief events of this period. (Muratori, Rer. Ital. Script., XI, 1249 sqq.; or in the better edition of C. Minutoli, "Documenti di Storia Italiana", Florence, 1876, VI, 35 sqq.). His "Historia Ecclesiastica Nova" in twenty-four books relates the history of the Church from the birth of Christ till 1294; considering as appendixes the lives of Boniface VIII, Benedict XI, and Clem- ent V, it reaches to 1314 (Muratori, loc. cit., XI, 751 sqq.; the life of Clement V is in Baluze, "Vita' pap. Aven.", 23 sqq.). He alsowTotea '• Historia Tripar- tita" known only from his own references and cita- tions. The "Extracta de chronico Fr. Ptoloma'i de Luca"and the "Excerpta ex chronicis Fr. Ptoloma-i " are no longer considered original works by separate authors, but are extracts from the "Historia Eccle- siastica Nova" by some unkno'mi compiler who lived after the death of Bartholomew. He is also well known for his completion of the "De Regimine Principum," which St. Thomas Aquinas had been unable to finish before his death. This was no small task, for the share of Bartholomew begins with the sixth chapter of the second book and includes the third and fourth books (vol. XVI, in the Parma, 1865, edition of St. Thomas). Though he does not follow the order of the saint, yet his treatment is clear and logical. A work on the "Hexa'meron" by him was published by Masetti in 1880. With a few exceptions, the writings of Bartholomew have always been held in high esteem. He showed great care in verifying his statements. The lives of the Avignon popes were WTitten from original documents under his hands and were controlled by the statements of eye-witnesses. His acceptance of fables now exploded, e. g. the Popess Joan, must be attributed to the uncritical temper of his time.

Krcger, Drs PtohmiTM Lucencia Leben uruf TFfri-e (Giittin- gen. 1874); KoNio, Tolomto v. Lucca, cin bwgraphiachrr VertucJi (Harburg, 1878); QcfeTiF and Echabd, SS. O.P., I, 541; PoTTHAST, BM. hist. med. irx-ii (Berlin, 1896). 945.

Thos. M. Schwertner.

Bartholomew of Pisa, Friar Minor and chroni- cler. The fact that there were two Friars Minor


named Bartholomew living in Pi.sa at the same time has caused considerable confusion, and most recent wTiters, following Marianus of Florence, Mark of Lisbon, and Wadding, have fallen into the error of attributing to Bartholomew Albisi the famous " Book of Conformities", which was really wTitten by Bar- tholomew Rinonico. The latter, with whom we are here concerned, was a Pisan of noble family. In 1352 he was a student at Bologna and later filled the office of Lector there as well as at Padua, Pisa, Sienna, and Florence. He also preached for many years with great success in different Italian cities. He died about 1401, renowned no less for sanctity than for learning, and is commemorated in the Fran- ciscan Martyrology on 4 November.

Bartholomew's chief title to fame rests upon his remarkable book, " De Conformitate Vitae B. P. Fran- cisci ad Vitam Domini Nostri Jesu Christi", begun in 1385 and formally approved by the general chap- ter held at Assisi in 1399. Enthusiastically received on its appearance and long held in high esteem, this work became the object of bitter and stupid attacks on the part of Lutherans and Jansenists. Against it Erasmus Alber wrote the " Alcoranus Franciscanus " (Der Barfusser Monche Eulenspiegel und Alcoran mit einer Vorrede D. M. Luthers, 1531) in reply to which Henry Sedulius,0. F. M., published his "Apolo- geticus adversus Alcoranum Franciscanorum pro libro Conformitatum" (Antwerp, 1607). Subse- quent WTiters on Franciscan history treated the Pisan's work with most unmerited ostracism; more recently it has come to be lauded in certain circles in terms which savour of exaggeration. Between these extreme views, the patient and discerning student -nill find the "Conformities" a book of very uneven value. The parallels between the lives of Our Lord and St. Francis which form its basis are sometimes forced, but nowhere does it make St. Francis the equal of Christ. Side by side with fan- tastic legends, ridiculous visions, and other absurdi- ties, it contains much really credible and precious historical information, revealing besides a deep knowledge of Scripture and theology and a critical temper not usual at the time it was wTitten. It is rightly considered a source of great importance for students of Franciscan historj'. It was first printed at Milan in 1510 and in 1513. The new edition published at Bologna in 1590 is mutilated and cor- rupted, especially in the historical parts, at almost every page. A sorely needed critical edition of the text has lately been published in tom. IV of the "Analecta Franciscana" (Quaracchi, 1906).

In addition to the "Conformities", Bartholomew left some thirty other works, including an exposition of the Rule of "the Fri.ars Minor found in the "Spec- ulum" Morin (Rouen, 1509) and a book "De Vita B. Marice Virginis", published at Venice in 1596; his Lenten sermons were printed at Milan in 1498, Venice, 1503, and Lyons, 1519. Sbaralea and^others have erroneously a'ttributed to him the "Summa Ca.suum Conscie'ntia'", which is really the work of Bartholomew a S. Concordio of Pisa, O. P., and the "Vita B, Gerardi", which was -nTitten by Bartholo- mew Albisi mentioned above.

Wadding, Annales. ail. ann. 1399, IX, vii, viii, and ScHp- torea (1650), 48; Sbaralea, Supplementum, 109; Tiraboschi. Slor. lett. Ital. (1805), V, 144; da Cfveeza, Bihl. San. Francca- cana (1879), 463-464, 470-471; Sabatier, Vie de S. Fran^cn* (Paris, 1894), Etude, pp. cxv sqcj.; Felder. Geach. der Wiaaen- achaftl. Studien im Framiakanerord . (Freiburg, 1904), 104 and passim: GorBOVicii, Biblioteca Bio-Bxbhograiica (Qua- racchi, 1906), 71 and passim: Faloci in Miscell. Franceac. (1901), VIII, fasc. V, 148 sqq, ^

P.\scH.\L Robinson. Bartholomew of San Concordio (also of Pisa), canonist, and man of letters, b. at San Concordio, near PLsa about 1260; d. at Pisa, 11 June, 1347. He entered the Dominican Order in 1277, studied at Pisa, Bologna, and Paris, and taught at Luoca,