Recorded in over two hundred spelling forms, including Bart, Barta, Bartomieu, Bertome, Bartos, Berthelemot, Bertolini, Bertolaccini, and many others, this surname is of ancient Arabic origins. It derives from the medieval male given name Bartholomew, from the Aramaic patronymic "bar-Talmay", or son of Talmay with Talmay describing a land owner or farmer, one who "had many furrows". The Apostle Bartholomew, of whom Jesus said, "Behold an Israelite without guile", was believed to have been a landowner. The name was only used in Europe before the 12th century by the clergy or monks, an early recording being that of Bartholomeus Canonicus, in the Danelaw charters of the city of London, in the year 1199. England was the first country in the world to adopt hereditary surnames as we know them today, and was also the first country to accurately record peoples names. Early examples of these recordings include Nicholas Bertelmev of the county of Sussex in the year1296, and Walter Berthelmeu in the city of London in 1334. Wernus Bartholomei was recorded in Hamburg, Germany, in the year 1274. Throughout the following centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.