BARTHOLI (Bartoli), Francesco. — Franciscan preacher and writer, also erroneously called, according to A. Mercati, Della Rossa or Rubaeae. Born in Assisi, he entered the Franciscan order toward the end of the 13th century. He studied in Perugia in 1312 and in Cologne in 1316, returning to Italy the following year, bringing back numerous relics of saints. From 1320 until 1325, he preached at Santa Maria degli Angeli and expounded Holy Scripture to the people; guardian of the small convent of San Damiano in 1332, he was found again in the sacred convent of Assisi in 1334. He had fervently adhered, in the years 1328–1329, to Fra Michele da Cesena, to whom he had also addressed several letters; but, captured by the Inquisition and tried on 23 January 1330, he confessed his faults, obtaining penance and forgiveness.
Toward the end of 1334, he wrote his famous work, *Historia* or *Tractatus de Indulgentia S. Mariae de Portiuncula* (ed. P. Sabatier, *Opuscules*, Paris 1900, no. 2), which, though not without defects, errors, and anachronisms, nonetheless holds considerable historical interest, particularly for the documents it contains and various pieces of information drawn from ancient legends and Franciscan traditions (he had known and heard Fra Marino, disciple and nephew of the famous Fra Masseo, one of St. Francis’s most beloved companions). It is the first historical work on the important indulgence, on which many others would later write.
Bartholi also composed his *Sermones* (festive and ferial) delivered at the Porziuncula and a *Historia passionis Christi pro die Veneris Sancti* arranged according to the Four Evangelists (manuscripts in the library of Assisi). He died very old, around the end of the 14th century.