Bartholomew of Trent (ca 1200 — 1251) was a Dominican

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

and papal diplomat. His ''Epilogum in gesta sanctorum'' (''Afterword on the Deeds of the Saints''), which set a new style in

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

designed for practical use by preachers, specifically to inspire a lay audience with marvels and moral admonitions, was one of two main sources for

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medie ...

's compendium, ''

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

''. A native of

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

, he entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. Bartholomew travelled widely in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

; politically astute, was often in attendance at both the Papal and Imperial courts. He served as an

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

's envoy in negotiations with Frederick II. He knew

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...

and was present at the translation of

St. Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

's body in 1233, for the details of which he is a prime witness. In 1241, he was a witness to

Mongol raids in Saxony Mongol incursions in the Holy Roman Empire took place in the spring of 1241 and again in the winter of 1241–42. They were part of the first Mongol invasion of Europe. The Mongols did not advance far into the Holy Roman Empire and there was no ...

, which he wrote about in a letter to Bishop Egino of Brixen. The ''Epilogum in gesta sanctorum'' was completed in the Monastery of San Lorenzo, at Trent, in 1245. The modern edition is that of Emore Paoli (Sismel, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2001), superseding that of D. Gobbi (1990), transcribing a manuscript from

Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg (; frequently abbreviated as Kloburg by locals) is a town in Tulln District in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has a population of about 27,500. The Klosterneuburg Monastery, which was established in 1114 and soon after give ...

. At one point "in the first half of the thirteenth century, Bartholomew of Trent recounted a number of apparitions of the archangel Michael" that embellished the story of Pope Gregory's famous ''letania septiformis'' created to quell the plague of 590 caused by the overflowing of the river Tigris in Rome. The final account was published in 1270 when "Jacobus de Voragine put all the pieces together in his wildly popular ''Legenda aurea''." The text concludes, "Then Gregory saw an angel of the lord standing atop the castle of Crescentius, wiping a bloody sword and sheathing it. Gregory understood that the plague had ceased, as indeed, happened. Following from which the castle was called the Castle of the Angel."''Ibid''., p. 25 The statue of an angel atop Rome's ''Castel Sant'Angelo'' overlooking the city remains to this day.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew Of Trent Italian Dominicans 13th-century Latin writers 13th-century Italian writers