De nativitate sancti Bartholomei apostoli
Standard abbreviation: Nat. Bart.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 359
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Life and Martyrdom of Stephen
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Nativity of Bartholomew.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/nativity-of-bartholomew/.
Created June 2024.
1. SUMMARY
A pious nobleman from the royal family of Syria and his virtuous wife are unable to conceive. The man is grieved and promises to God that should he grant him a child, he will dedicate it to the service of God. The woman conceives and she can feel that she will give birth to a son who will battle the forces of darkness. When the child is born, the devil fears its power and informs his demonic underlings. One of them volunteers to take the boy’s place and tells the devil to take the child into the mountains so that he will perish in the snow. But God does not abandon Bartholomew; he forces the devil to take care of the boy, an action that causes the devil great pain.
In the meantime, the black and ugly devil child does nothing but wail and cry. Stories of the child spread around Syria, bringing much shame to the nobleman. He decides to build an underground dwelling and raise the boy out of sight. Despite their anguish, the parents remain faithful to God and generous to the poor.
As for their true child, he is rescued from the snow by a priest of the Jews who was passing through the mountains. The priest names him Bartholomew and raises him as his own. After three years one of the priest’s servants notes how sweet and handsome and charming the boy is and remarks that he is nothing like the horrible child that he has heard about in Syria. The priest decides to investigate. He sees the devil child and recognizing its true nature, he commands it by the power of God to reveal itself. The demon confesses its plan to kill Bartholomew and destroy the faith of his parents and then departs, leaving behind a foul stench.
The parents are reunited with their child. Over time Bartholomew grows to adulthood and his parents pass away. He hears about Jesus’ preaching that one cannot be a disciple if you do not give away your possessions (Matthew 15:33//Luke 14:33), so he renounces his lordship and sells his everything he has, giving all of the proceeds to the poor.
Named historical figures and characters: Bartholomew (apostle), Joseph (patriarch), Moses (patriarch).
Geographical locations: Syria.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Online Resources
“Bartholomew the Apostle.” Wikipedia.
2.2 Art and Iconography
Lorenzo di Niccolò, Panel Representing St bartholomew and Stories from His Life, 1401. San Gimignano, Civic Picture Gallery of San Gimignano (Sawyer pp. 176–77). Wikipedia; IMAGES
Tomb of King Pedro I of Portugal (d. 1367): three episodes from the text. Transept of Mosteiro de Alcobaça (Sawyer p. 178). Wikimedia
Master of Santa Coloma de Queralt, Retaule de Sant Bartomeu (ca. 1360). Tarragona, Museu Diocesà de Tarragona. Two episodes (Sawyer p. 179). JOHN
Léon Picardo and Felipe Bigarny, Retablo de San Bartolomé. Altapiece of the devotion to Saint Bartholomew, 1514. Burgos, Church of San Lesmes. Two episodes. (Sawyer, p. 180).
El Retaule de Sant Bartomenu, ca. 1400. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Bartholomew suckled by a doe in the wilderness (Sawyer p. 180).
Alonso Gallego, The Discovery of the Infant Bartholomew in the Wilderness, early 16th cent. The Spanish Gallery, Bishop Auckland (Sawyer, p. 181).
Altarpiece of St. Bartholomew of Cruilles, ca. 1450/1500 IMAGES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin
Fritzlar, Dombibliothek, 122, fol. 334 (15th cent.)
2. Middle Dutch
Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 1116, fols. 166v–168r (1499)
Gaiffier, Baudouin de, and Guy de Tervarent. “Le diable voleur d’enfants. À propos de la naissance des saints Étienne, Laurent et Barthélemy.” Pages 169–93 in Baudouin de Gaiffier, Études critiques d’hagiographie et d’iconologie. Subsidia Hagiographica 43. Bruxelles, Société des Bollandistes, 1967 (Repr. from Analecta sacra tarraconensia 12 [1936]: 33–58) (Middle Dutch text of Brussels 1116, pp. 185–88).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Middle Dutch text of Brussels 1116 reproduced from Gaiffier with English translation by David F. Johnson and Geert H. M. Claassens, pp. 216–23).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Middle Dutch text of Brussels 1116 reproduced from Gaiffier with English translation by David F. Johnson and Geert H. M. Claassens, pp. 216–23).
3.3 General Works
Beresford, Andrew M. Sacred Skin: The Legend of St. Bartholomew in Spanish Art and Literature. Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World 72. Leiden: Brill, 2020 (pp. 45–90).
Buttà, Licia. “Peregrinus et exorcista: el nacimiento legendario de san Bartolomé en la hagiografía y la cultura visual de la Edad Media.” Anuario de estudios medievales 51 (2021): 563–600.
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (pp. 104–105).