Bartholomew was born into a noble family – it is known as Tekesh's kinship in Hungarian historiography – which possessed landholdings in Sáros County.
[1] Formerly, historians Vince Bunyitay and Erik Fügedi claimed that Bartholomew originated from the gens (clan) Mezőpilis as the son of Bás (II).
[3] The name of Bartholomew is first mentioned by contemporary records in Hungary in 1274, on the occasion of a land contract along with his relatives.
[5] His appointment took place after a group of barons captured King Ladislaus IV of Hungary, who had earlier imprisoned papal legate Philip of Fermo.
[5] Beside that, he functioned as provost of Szepes (today Spišská Kapitula in Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia) from 1283 to 1284.