BARTHOLOMEW of Simeri, saint. — Organizer of Basilian monastic life in southern Italy after the Norman conquest. From a life of B. dating from the second half of the 12th century, it is deduced that he was born at Simeri (Catanzaro) around the middle of the 11th century, of noble family, and was given the name Basilicus. Still very young, he became a disciple of the hermit Cyril. He then retired to the mountains near Rossano, where he built the monastery of S. Maria Odigitria, known as the Patire, or Patirion, thanks to the subsidies of the most noble Cristodulus and of Adelaide, widow of Count Roger. B. was ordained priest by Policronius, bishop of Belcastro; but soon afterwards the bishop of Rossano rose up against him. B. then obtained from Paschal II (1105) confirmation of the immunity of his monastery. B. went to Constantinople, where the empress Irene, together with the emperor Alexius Comnenus, received him with honours and showered him with gifts consisting of money, books and sacred vessels; he was moreover entrusted by Basil Kalimeris with the reform of a monastery on Mount Athos.
B., having returned to Rossano, ended his days there on 19 August 1130. His cult spread rapidly among the Basilian monasteries of southern Italy, as is attested by several Typica.