An account of Dominican activities in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales from their arrival in 1221 until their dissolution at the Reformation

The Order of Preachers has famously bred some of the leading intellectual lights of the Middle Ages. While Dominican achievements in theology, philosophy, languages, law, and sciences have attracted much scholarly interest, their significant engagement with liturgy, the visual arts, and music remains relatively unexplored. These aspects and their manifold interconnections form the focal point of this interdisciplinary volume. The different chapters examine how early Dominicans positioned themselves and interacted with their local communities, where they drew their influences from, and what impact the new Order had on various aspects of medieval life. The contributors to this volume address issues as diverse as the making and illustrating of books, services for a king, the disposition of liturgical space, the creation of new liturgies, and a Dominican-made music treatise. In doing so, they seek to shed light on the actions and interactions of medieval Dominicans in the first centuries of the Order's existence.

The purpose of this book is to gather in a single narrative the rather disparate stories of Dominican friars in Southern Africa over the past four centuries. It is a social history of the Dominicans in Southern Africa, that is, a history that deals specifically with the social and cultural factors of historical development.

Ever since St. Dominic de Guzmán founded the Order of Preachers 800 years ago, Dominican men and women have continued to shape Catholic spirituality, challenging the faithful to know God in their minds and to love God in their hearts. Praying with the Dominicans is a wellspring of Dominican prayer from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries. Dominican spirituality emphasizes the goodness of the created world as the handiwork of a loving God. Author John Vidmar, OP, presents a generous sampling of this rich spiritual tradition in the form prayers, meditations, poems, hymns, devotions, and reflections. Within this book the reader will find an account of St. Dominic's nine ways of prayer, along with the Eucharistic writings of Thomas Aquinas. St. Catherine of Siena is prominently featured, as are contemporary English Dominicans Timothy Radcliffe and Bede Jarrett, Dominican theologian Mary Catherine Hilkert, Dominican inspirational poet Maryanna Childs, and many others. Also included are selections representing the vibrant tradition of Dominican Marian devotion. Illustrations and musical samples accompany the text. No comparable single-volume source offers such a diverse collection of Dominican prayer and thought. This book will guide, enlighten, and inspire anyone who wishes to experience the dynamic charism of the Order of Preachers. +

The history of the Dominicans in the British Isles is a rich and fascinating one. Eight centuries have passed since the Friars Preachers landed on England's shores. Yet no book charting the history of the English Province has appeared for close on a hundred years. Richard Finn now sets right this neglect. He guides the reader engagingly and authoritatively through the medieval, early modern and contemporary periods: from the arrival of the first Black Friars – and the Province's 1221 foundation by Gilbert de Fresnay – to Dominican missions to the Caribbean and Southern Africa and seismic changes in church and society after Vatican II. He discusses the Province's medieval resilience and sudden Reformation collapse; attempts in the 1650s to restore it; its Babylonian Exile in the Low Countries; its virtual disappearance in the nineteenth century; and its unlikely modern revival. This is an essential work for medievalists, theologians and historians alike.

The colors of Hispaniola burst into life in this striking, evocative debut picture book that celebrates the joy of being Dominican. If Dominican were a color, it would be the sunset in the sky, blazing red and burning bright. If Dominican were a color, it’d be the roar of the ocean in the deep of the night, With the moon beaming down rays of sheer delight. The palette of the Dominican Republic is exuberant and unlimited. Maiz comes up amarillo, the blue-black of dreams washes over sandy shores, and people’s skin can be the shade of cinnamon in cocoa or of mahogany. This exuberantly colorful, softly rhyming picture book is a gentle reminder that a nation’s hues are as wide as nature itself.

Dominican Penitent Women presents a fascinating overview of the spirituality, religious practices, and ways of life of medieval Italian women who belonged to the Dominican Order as lay members or penitents. Through selected texts, readers gain a fresh perspective on the institutional and spiritual foundations of Dominican lay life, but also an understanding of how these women refashioned Dominican ideals into practices that best responded to their individual and social means. Their way of life created an important alternative for women who sought religious perfection in the world. The first section consists of two penitent rules: the Ordinationes of Munio from the late 13th century and the formal penitent rule of the early 15th century, which show how penitents were to organize and live their lives. The second section is dedicated to hagiographic sources. The third section is made up of penitent women's religious writing. The texts translated here present an overview of Dominican women's literary production that complements the writings of Catherine of Siena, already available in English. While Dominican penitent women held an important position in medieval piety, aside from Catherine of Siena, their spirituality has not attracted much scholarly attention. As the first comprehensive introduction to medieval Dominican laywomen and Dominican penitent spirituality in English, this book makes a significant scholarly and spiritual contribution. +

The spirituality of St. Dominic and his early followers was a force in 13th-century Europe. Here is a selection of works that represent the simplicity, ruggedness and clarity of the Dominicans' biblically-based, Christ-centered spirituality.