The author of the medieval encyclopedia “On the Properties of Things,” Bartholomew of England, was probably born around 1190. There is an assumption that he began his education in Chartres and completed it in Paris, where he became a monk of the Franciscan Order. In 1230 he was sent to Magdeburg (Germany) to teach theology. Bartholomew remained in Germany until the end of his life. He died shortly after 1250.

The work “On the Properties of Things” was completed ca. 1250 The encyclopedia consists of 19 books, which present different aspects of medieval science: theology, medicine, astronomy, geography, etc. All kinds of phenomena, collected and distributed under headings, are located inside each book in alphabetical order. The information is of a very general nature. When presenting them, Bartholomew refers to authorities recognized in the Middle Ages, including Aristotle, Herodotus, Isidore of Seville, Paulus Orosius, Pliny the Elder, and Arab astronomers.

The geographical section (books 14, 15) of Bartholomew’s work is of great interest English. In the description of the countries and regions of the world known to him from the writings of the ancients, he includes original information about the Baltic states, Slavic countries and Rus'. In his presentation of this material, Bartholomew is tendentious: he is a supporter of the aggressive policy pursued by the German crusaders.

The essay “On the Properties of Things” brought a fairly large amount of information to the medieval reader and gained enormous popularity. It was distributed in many manuscripts, currently stored in many libraries in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century. German researcher E. Voigt counted about 90 manuscripts located in Belgium, Germany, England, France, Italy, Holland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Spain. Most of these manuscripts contain the original Latin work; some are translations into French and English. A detailed systematic description of the manuscripts does not yet exist, so we cannot provide data on the lists.

The work of Bartholomew of England was one of the first printed books to survive from the end of the 15th century. until the beginning of the 17th century. 75 publications, both in Latin and translated into new languages (English, French, Spanish).