[1][3] In his adolescence he felt called to become a priest despite the fact that his vain and proud father preferred that Bartolo instead become a knight and that he wed in order to continue the noble line.

But one night he had a vision in which Jesus Christ, with a scourge in his hand, said to him: "Bartolo, not in this habit are you to attain the celestial crown; it is to be through suffering and wounds, and in the garb of penance".

[2][3] Bartolo instead requested admission into the Third Order of Saint Francis and decided to pursue his path to the priesthood where the Bishop of Volterra later ordained him as such.

Around 1280 he contracted leprosy and resigned all of his parochial duties as a result while withdrawing to a leper hospital near his hometown of San Gimignano where he would spend the remainder of his life.

[3] The beatification process received papal approval from Pope Pius X on 27 April 1910 after his popular local cultus was confirmed.