De ortu sancti Bartholomei
Standard abbreviation: Birth Bart.
Other titles: Birth and Nativity of Bartholomew
Clavis numbers: ECCA 166
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Conversion of Bartholomew, Passion of Bartholomew.
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Birth of Bartholomew.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/birth-of-bartholomew/.
Created August 2025.
1. SUMMARY
Birth Bart. is extant in five forms, each with small changes in detail; the following summary is based on version 1a. The king of the Greeks and his wife are unable to conceive a child. They offer many sacrifices to the gods but these go unanswered. Then they are told to worship the god who dwells in the heavens. They do so and he grants them a child. The girl shows herself to be gentle, kind, and modest. One day, the devil appears in disguise and tells the king and queen that God commands them to kill the girl because she is an enemy of God and on account of her their kingdom will be reduced to nothing.
They reason that God will grant them another child, so they call two soldiers to take her into the wilderness and kill her. But the soldiers take pity on her and leave her in the wilderness; as a sign that they carried out the deed, they cut off her hands and bring them back to the king. After wandering for some time, the girl comes to a house of virgin renunciants and is taken in by the abbess.
Not long after, the king of Syria, with his son and his family, are hunting in the same forest. The son strays from the group and comes to the monastery where he meets the girl with no hands. He returns to his father’s palace and falls ill from his longing for the girl. The king retrieves the girl and the young couple are married.
Soon the king dies and his son succeeds him. When his wife becomes pregnant, the emperor sends for the king. He tells his mother to to inform him as soon as possible about the birth of his child. She gives birth to a beautiful son, and the queen sends a letter to her son by messengers, but the devil secretly steals the letter and writes another, saying the wife has given birth to a child without eyes, ears, noses, hands and feet. When the king reads the letter, he is greatly troubled but writes back to his mother that the child should be kept until his arrival. The devil again replaces the letter with another saying to put mother and child to death or the queen will be killed.
The queen appoints soldiers to carry out the deed, but they cannot bring themselves to do it. They tie the baby to the mother’s chest (since she has no hands to carry it) and leave her in the wilderness. She wanders and comes upon a spring. When she bends down to drink she crushes the child. The mother calls out to God and an angel appears and revives the boy, baptizes him, and names him Bartholomew. At the angel’s command, the mother touches the boy’s hands with a stick and her own hands are restored. Mother and child wander further and come across the monastery where she was raised.
The king returns and discovers the devil’s ruse. Searching for his wife and child, he finds the monastery and the family is reunited. The boy is now three years old. The king is overjoyed beyond measure, particularly to see that his wife now has hands. They return to the palace and there is joy and exultation throughout the whole kingdom.
Named historical figures and characters: Astaroth, Bartholomew (apostle), devil, Palestus.
Geographical locations: Albana, Armenia, Constantinople, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Lycaonia, Palestine, Syria.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Online Resources
“Bartholomew the Apostle.” Wikipedia.
2.2 Art and Iconography
Cycle of Bartholomew Altarpiece, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (Urbino) (ECMA 193)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin
3.1.1.1 Version 1a
Ber 2 Berlin, Staatsbibliotek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Theol. lat. qu. 331, fols. 292r–292v (1492)
E Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnbergm 487/1, fols. 5r–7r (15th cent.)
J Jena, Theologische, Landes- und Universitätsbibliothek, El. f. 50a, fols. 147r–148r (15th cent.)
W Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, M. cg. q. 81, fols. 203r–206v (1479)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition of EJW and Ber2, pp. 136–43).
3.1.1.2 Version 1b
Here the king is a gentile believer in God from Egypt named Palestus. The text has a short epilogue about Bartholomew becoming an apostle. He succeeds his father as king when he is 29 years old but despises the riches of his kingship. He hears about the miracles performed by Jesus and gives all that he has to the poor. He and his mother become followers of Jesus.
G Griefswald, Bibliothek des Geistlichen Ministeriums, XXXII.E.26, fols. 105r–106r (1489)
H Haarlem, Bibliothèque du Musée épiscopal, 89, fols 5r–7r (16th cent.)
L Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, 184, fols. 44r–44v (15th cent.) ~ IMAGES
M Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 3661, fols. 72v–73v (15th cent.)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition of GHLM, pp. 144–50; Be and V).
3.1.1.3 Version 1c
Here the king is from Palestine. The text has a similar (but shorter) epilogue to version 1b: Bartholomew succeeds his father as king when he is 29 years old and gives all that he has to the poor so that he can follow Jesus.
D Dresden, Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. App. 2306, fols. 183v–184v (15th cent.)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition of D, pp. 159–61).
3.1.1.4 Version 2a
The grandfather of Bartholomew is a prince from India. Demons learn that a child will be born of his daughter who will destroy all the idols of India and Egypt. So they set about to destroy the girl. They make it so the prince falls into poverty and abandons his wife and daughter. He wanders into the wilderness where the devil offers him a chance to regain his fortune. He tells him that he must return home where he will find a fortune. The prince spends all of his newfound riches and comes back to the devil. This time the prince is told he will receive more riches but he must cut off his daughter’s hands. He returns to the devil a third time, and now he must kill his daughter. So he orders two servants to take her out into the wilderness and kill her, but they take pity on her and allow her to live. The girls wanders until she comes upon a monastery and she is taken in by the abbess. The story continues as in Version 1 with the son of the king marrying the girl, the son’s departure, the girl’s pregnancy, the devil’s ruse, and mother and son’s abandonment in the wilderness. When the angels come to comfort the girl, they tell her that God would not permit her death since her son is destined to destroy the idols of Egypt and India. They say also that when the boy is old enough, to let him go to the land of the Jews and meet Jesus. When the family is reunited, the king has a great banquet. Bartholomew comes of age and journeys to Jerusalem to join Jesus’ disciples. After the ascension, he journeys to India and destroys the idols.
F Fritzlar, Dombibliothek, 79, fol. 24v (1449)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition of F, pp. 151–54).
3.1.1.5 Version 2b (BHL 1014d; similar to 2a)
P Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria, 1622, fol. 308r–309r (15th cent.)
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) (edition based on P, pp. 188–93).
3.1.1.6 Version 2c (BHL 1014e)
In this version, the grandfather of Bartholomew is a baron from Constantinople. As in 2a, he makes a bargain with the devil for riches, but when it comes time to cut off his daughter’s hands, he tells his daughter what he intends to do and she responds with a request to take her out into the wilderness so she can avoid the disgrace of her infirmity among people she knows. The father does so. The story then continues with the birth of a son, etc. When she is healed by the angel, he tells her that Bartholomew will be great and will be important to the future of the whole world. After the family is reunited, they live together for many years in joy and gladness. In time, Bartholomew grows up and joins Jesus, but this time he remains in his royal garments (see Conv. Bart.). Bartholomew preaches in Lycaonia, India, Armenia, and finally Ethiopia. There he battles a demon called Astaroth (see Pass. Bart.)
Be Benevento, Biblioteca Capitolare, Codex 50bis, fols. 1r–4r (15th cent.)
V Vienna, Biblioteca Marciana, Lat. Z. 158, fols. 328v–329v (15th cent.)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition of Be and V, pp. 155–58).
3.1.1.8 Legendarium of Peter Calo
Bartholomew’s grandfather is a “certain noble Jew.” His bargain with the devil is to kill his daughter and bring the devil her hands as proof of her death. A servant takes her into the wilderness but does not kill her; he lets her live but takes her hands. When she is later abandoned in the wilderness with her son, she comes upon a kind man who takes her into his home and entrusts the mother and child to his wife. The family are reunited as in the other versions. Calo then goes on to present the Passion of Bartholomew (based on Pass. Bart.), after which he continues with an anecdote (related to Conv. Bart.) of Bartholomew asking Jesus if he remain in his royal garments. It is this for this reason that Bartholomew was flayed—just as he gloried in his garments, he would be punished in his skin.
Ve Vienna, Biblioteca Marciana, Ms. lat. Cl. 9 Nr. 15–20, fols. 77v–80r (14th cent.)
Y York, Cathedral ms. XVI G 23, fols. 23v–24r (15th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. lat. 714, fols. 130v–135r (14th cent.)
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162 (edition based on X and Y, pp. 126–28).
3.1.2 Middle German (Version 2d)
S Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Cod. theol. et phil. 4° 81, fol. 220r–222r (1480)
3.2 Modern Translations
3.3 General Works
Krüger, Astrid. “De ortu sancti Bartholomei. Legenden über Herkunft und Bekehrung des heiligen Bartholomäus.” AnBoll 128 (2010): 87–162.
