The Franciscan professor of theology, Bartholomaeus Anglicus (fl. 1220-1240), provided scholars with one of the first encyclopedias in the civilized world.

The exact birth and death dates of Bartholomaeus are not known. It is believed that he lived in the first half of the thirteenth century from 1220 to 1240, during which time he wrote his 19 volume reference work De proprietatibus rerum, a treatise on the natural sciences. It was organized as an encyclopedia and the work survived many translations including Spanish, French, Dutch and English, as well as numerous printings and handwritten manuscripts.

Bartholomaeus was also known as Bartholomew the Englishman or Bertholomew de Glanville. Born in Suffolk, England, he was an English friar who studied the natural sciences and theology at Oxford University, under the direction of Robert Grosseteste. Bartholomaeus went on to the University of Paris, where he taught theology. In 1224 or 1225, with fellow theology professor Haymo...