Humanities History & Culture Saint Dominic Founder of the Order or Friars Preachers Share Flipboard Email Print Adapted from a depiction of Saint Dominic from the Side Panel of the Perugia Altarpiece by Fra Angelico. Public Domain History & Culture Medieval & Renaissance History Important People & Events Daily Life American History African American History African History Ancient History & Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More by Melissa Snell Updated June 05, 2017 Saint Dominic was also known as:Santo Domingo de GuzmánSaint Dominic was known for:founding the Order of Friars Preachers. Saint Dominic traveled extensively himself, preaching, both before and after the Dominican order was founded. Following Dominic's ideals, the Dominicans placed an emphasis on scholarship as well as evangelism.Occupations:MonasticSaintPlaces of Residence and Influence:IberiaItaly Important Dates:Born: c. 1170Order formally sanctioned: Dec. 22, 1216Died: Aug. 6, 1221About Saint Dominic:Born in Castile, Domingo de Guzmán studied at Palencia before joining the canons regular of Osma in about 1196. He became subprior only a few years later, and in 1203 he accompanied the bishop, Diego, on a royal mission through France. The trip exposed Dominic to the problems the Church faced with the Albigensian heretics, whose caste of the "perfect" led lives of extreme austerity, to the point of starvation and suicide, and who regarded ordinary people as reprobates.Several years later, on another trip with the bishop, Dominic once again traveled to France. There, preachers who had been failing in their mission to reform the Albigensians discussed their dilemma with Dominic and Diego. Dominic reasoned that Albigensians would only turn back to Catholicism if Catholic preachers led lives of austerity that rivaled their own, traveling the roads barefoot in obvious poverty. This was the seed of Dominic's "evangelical preaching."In 1208, the murder of papal legate Peter de Castelnau triggered a "crusade" called by Pope Innocent III against the Albigensians. Dominic's work continued throughout the time of this crusade and grew slowly. After the Catholic forces had entered Tolouse, Dominic and his friends were welcomed by bishop Foulques and established as "diocesan preachers." From this point on, Saint Dominic's design for an order devoted to preaching grew quickly. The Augustinian rule was adopted for Dominic's order, which received formal sanction in December of 1216. He established two principal houses near the universities of Paris and Bologna, determining that each house should form a school of theology. In 1218 Saint Dominic began a great tour of well over 3,000 miles, entirely on foot, which included Rome, Tolouse, Spain, Paris and Milan.General chapters of the Dominican order were held at Bologna. At the first, in 1220, a system of representative government for the order was devised; at the second, in 1221, the order was divided into provinces.Tradition in both the Franciscan and the Dominican orders has it that St. Dominic met and became good friends with St. Francis of Assisi. The men may have met in Rome, possibly as early as 1215.In 1221, after a visit to Vencie, Saint Dominic died at Bologna.More Saint Dominic Resources:Portrait of Saint DominicSaint Dominic on the WebSaint Dominic in PrintThe links below will take you directly to an online bookstore where you can purchase the book or find out more about it. Neither About.com nor Melissa Snell is responsible for any purchase you may make through these links.Saint Dominic: The Grace of the Wordby Guy Bedouelle In the Image of St. Dominic: Nine Portraits of Dominican Lifeby Guy BedouelleSt. Dominic(Cross and Crown Series of Spirituality)by Sr. Mary Jean DorcyIs there a book about Saint Dominic that you'd like to recommend? Please contact me with the details.HagiographyMonasticismHeresy and InquisitionMedieval IberiaWho's Who Directories:Chronological IndexGeographical IndexIndex by Profession, Achievement, or Role in SocietyThe text of this document is copyright ©200-2015 Melissa Snell. You may download or print this document for personal or school use, as long as the URL below is included. Permission is not granted to reproduce this document on another website. For publication permission, please contact Melissa Snell.The URL for this document is:http://historymedren.about.com/od/dwho/p/saint-dominic.htm citecite this article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Snell, Melissa. "Saint Dominic." ThoughtCo, Jun. 5, 2017, thoughtco.com/saint-dominic-profile-1788758. Snell, Melissa. (2017, June 5). Saint Dominic. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/saint-dominic-profile-1788758 Snell, Melissa. "Saint Dominic." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/saint-dominic-profile-1788758 (accessed April 25, 2018). copy citation Continue Reading