Bartholomew, St an apostle of the 1st century ad, whose apostolate is said to have included India and Armenia. He was martyred by being flayed alive, and his traditional emblem is a flaying-knife. He is the patron saint of tanners, and his feast day is 24 August.
From 1133 to 1855, a great fair was held annually at West Smithfield on the saint's feast day. This provides the setting for Jonson's play Bartholomew Fair (1614, performed 1631), in which the various protagonists visit the fair. The name ‘Bartholomew’ was applied to various goods on sale at the fair; a Bartholomew baby is a puppet or doll sold at the fair, and Bartholomew pig refers to the roast pork available there (one of Jonson's characters, the ranting Puritan Zeal-for-the-land Busy, has come to the fair for the express purpose of eating Bartholomew pig).
Massacre of St Bartholomew the name given to the massacre of Huguenots throughout France ordered by Charles IX at the instigation of his mother Catherine de Médicis, began on the morning of the feast of St Bartholomew, 24 August 1572. In Protestant writing, this became proverbial as a type of savagery and betrayal.

Bartholomew, St. One of the twelve apostles (Mark 3. 18). Feast day in W., 24 Aug.; in E., 11 June.