Inuentio Bartholomaei
Standard abbreviation: Invent. Bart.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 988; CANT 263
Category: Hagiography
Related literature: Life of Saint Marutha, Martyrdom of Bartholomew, Martyrdom of Bartholomew (Armenian)
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University ([email protected]).
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Discovery of Bartholomew’s Relics.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/discovery-of-bartholomews-relics/.
Created May 2021. Current as of April 2023.
1. SUMMARY
Invent. Bart. contains no apocryphal tales of Bartholomew, but it does add to traditions connecting the apostle with Armenia. The text narrates how the Syrian bishop Marutha of Maypherkat (modern Silvan, Turkey) (died ca. 420) petitioned the Persian king Yazdegerd I (r. ca 399–420) to transfer relics to Maypherkat and declare it a city of martyrs (Martyropolis). To this end, Marutha went in search of Bartholomew and found his body where he was martyred: in an area of the city Urbianos (Nicapolis) named Barm, a shortened form of Bartholomew.
Unaware of the precise location of the relics, Marutha spends 12 days praying and fasting. Then an earthquake splits the altar and a great light shines through the opening. Marutha gathers up the relics in a cloth but leaves a portion behind. The opening seals itself up so that no-one knows about the removal. An angel guides Marutha back to Maypherkat in the dead of night and a light fills the city, bringing the residents out to investigate. Many people are healed until the light fades away. At sunrise, they make a coffin of gold and place the relics in a marble rock. This interment takes place on December 12, the date of Bartholomew’s martyrdom according to the Armenian Synaxarium.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Bartholomew (apostle), Marutha, Yazdegerd I.
Geographical Locations: Armenia, Barm, Maypherkat (Martyropolis), Urbianos (Nicapolis).
2. RESOURCES
“Bartholomew the Apostle.” Wikipedia.
“Maruthas of Martyropolis.” Wikipedia.
“Yazdegerd I.” Wikipedia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Armenian (BHO 159)
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 228 (olim 653) (1847) ~ copied from M7729
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 201 (olim 1014), fols. 71r–72r (12th/13th cent.)
Additional manuscripts listed by Calzolari (pp. 200–201):
Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate (Monastery of Saint James), 154-d, no. 430 (1737)
New Julfa, Holy Savior Monastery, 425, fols. 301r–304v (17th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arm. 110, fol. 548v–549v (1194)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arm. 118, fol. 234v–235r (1307)
Vienna, Mechitarist Library, 213, fols. 191r–191v (15th/16th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 993, fols. 671r–671v (1456)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 1525, fols. 498v–499v (13th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 3782, fols. 223r–224r (12th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 3787, fols. 604v–605r (14th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 3797, fols. 453v–454v (14th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 4676, fols. 614r–615r (14th cent.)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 6196 (1227 and 1655)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 7441, fols. 291v–292r (1322)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 7729, no. 311 (1200–1202)
Aucher, Iohannes Baptista. Sanctorum Acta pleniora (=Mkrtič Awgerean, Liakatar varkʿew vkayabanutʿ twnkʿ srbocʿ). 12 vols. Venice: Presse de Saint-Lazare, 1810–1814 (edition based on V228 with readings from V201, vol. 9, pp. 447–49).
Tchérakian, Chérubin. Ankanon girkh arakhelakankh: Thankgaran haykakan hin ew nor deprutheankh. Venice: Òazar, 1904 (pp. 365–68).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 French
Calzolari, Valentina. Les apôtres Thaddée et Barthélemy. Aux origines du christianisme arménien. Apocryphes 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011 (discussion, pp. 115–17; translation of the edition by Aucher, pp. 151–56).
Leloir, Louis. Écrits apocryphes sur les apôtres. CCSA 3–4. 2 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 1986–1992 (translation of Armenian text from Tchérakian, vol. 2, pp. 525–30).
3.2.2 Latin
Moesinger, Georgio. Vitae et Martyrium sancti Bartholomaei apostoli, ex sinceris fontibus Armeniacis in linguam latinam conversa. Salisburgi: Typographia Zaunrithiana, 1877 (based on edition by Awgerean, pp. 34–36).
3.3 General Works
Esbroeck, Michel van. “The Rise of Saint Barthomolew’s Cult in Armenia from the Seventh to the Thirteenth Centuries.” Pages 161–78 in Medieval Armenian Culture. Edited by Thomas J. Samuelian and Michael E. Stone. University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 6. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984. English translation of “La naissance du culte de saint Barthélemy en Arménie.” Revue des études arméniennes 17 (1983): 171–95.
McDowell, Sean. The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus. Abindgon: Ashgate, 2008. Repr. London and New York: Routledge, 2015 (pp. 216–18).
Voicu, Sever J. “Gli apocrifi armeni.” Augustinianum 23 (1983): 161–80.