St Dominic
St Dominic
St Dominic was born in around 1170 at Calaruega in what is now northern Spain. He was educated at the new university at Palencia, and entered the chapter of the cathedral of Osma. This was a regular chapter, a body of canons who made profession according to the Rule of St Augustine. Dominic's talent was recognised and he soon became subprior.
Accompanying Diego, his bishop, on a diplomatic trip, Dominic encountered the Albigensian heresy at Toulouse, and work to reconcile the Albigensians to the Church became a major occupation. He was never to return to his cathedral. Dominic founded a monastery of nuns at Prouille, and gathered about him friars whose lives would be examples of poverty and whose preaching would convert the Albigensians back to the Christian faith.
The numbers grew, and the new Order of Preachers began to take shape. The friars formed preaching communities, who would sing the Divine Office and send out preachers to the people. The brothers professed poverty both individually and corporately. A great emphasis was placed on the proper preparation for the preaching work, and friars were sent to the university of Paris and took a major hand in the development of other European universities. Great minds such as St Albert the Great and St Thomas Aquinas were soon attracted to the Order.
The Order of Preachers was formally established by papal bull in 1216 and largely took shape at the first two general chapters of 1220 and 1221, when the first friars were sent to England. These friars landed at Dover on 5 August 1221, the same day that St Dominic himself died.
More information about the history of the Order of Preachers can be found at: