Provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the history of the Dominicans from the age of Saint Dominic to the sixteenth century.


The Dominican Order emerged in the dynamic society of the early thirteenth century, a period marked by economic growth, urbanisation, and the emergence of new forms of religious life based on the ideal of Apostolic poverty. Within decades, the order had established communities across Latin Christendom and beyond, shaping not only religious life and theological debates but also education, politics, economics, and Europe's expanding engagement with the wider world. This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the history of the Dominicans, from the age of Saint Dominic to the Protestant Reformation and the order's expansion into the Americas in the sixteenth century. It explores both the order's inner workings and its wider role in medieval society from Dominican government, education and liturgy to art, architecture and mysticism. It also investigates the friars' activities as preachers and confessors, their relationships with secular and ecclesiastical authorities, and their encounters with other faiths. An illustrated appendix introduces a selection of notable Dominicans through a series of short biographical portraits, bringing to life some of the personalities who shaped the order's remarkable history.