Founding of the Dominican Order

Timeline

1. 1215–1216Toulouse · LanguedocDominic de Guzmán preached against the Albigensian heresy in the Languedoc region, gathering companions to live a common life and study theology, forming the early community and disciplinary prototype of the Order of Preachers.
2. 1216Rome · RomePope Honorius III issued the bull Religiosam vitam, formally recognizing the 'Order of Preachers' (Ordo Praedicatorum) and granting it the status of a mendicant order with the right to beg, itinerant preaching, and academic study.
3. 1217–1220Bologna · BolognaThe order lived under the Rule of St. Augustine, emphasizing poverty, communal life, and university theological education; friars were dispatched to university towns across Europe to establish study houses, laying the institutional foundation for the later golden age of scholasticism.