author
active 13th century Anglicus Bartholomaeus
A 13th-century Franciscan scholar remembered for creating one of the Middle Ages’ most influential reference books, he gathered theology, nature, medicine, and everyday knowledge into a single widely read work. His writing helped shape how medieval readers learned about the world for centuries.
1 Audiobook
Mediaeval Lore from Bartholomew Anglicus
by active 13th century Anglicus Bartholomaeus
About the author
Probably born in England before 1203, Bartholomaeus Anglicus—often called Bartholomew the Englishman—became a Franciscan and studied and taught in Paris. Sources describe him as a scholastic writer and lecturer in divinity, and he is also linked with the Franciscan school at Magdeburg.
He is best known for De proprietatibus rerum (On the Properties of Things), a large 13th-century compendium often described as an early encyclopedia. The work brought together material on theology, the natural world, medicine, animals, plants, geography, and human life, making it a practical storehouse of knowledge for medieval readers.
What makes him especially memorable is how widely his book circulated. It was copied, translated, and cited for generations, giving it a long life far beyond his own time. Even today, Bartholomaeus Anglicus stands out as a writer who tried to organize the world’s learning into something usable and accessible.