1. Foundation of the Order

On December 22, 1216 Pope Honorius III approved the constitutional Bull of the Order of the Friars Preachers, universalizing a plan of evangelization which the Spaniard Dominic (Domingo) de Guzmán, or Dominic of Osma, had already begun in the diocese of Toulouse. According to the earliest biographies Dominic was invested as founder of the mission in 1203, after he had been appointed to a delicate mission by his bishop Diego de Acabes. The future saint was to be his companion for a trip to Denmark in order to arrange a marriage for the daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile. Their mission failed after the princess died or, as some historians argue, entered into a monastery. What instead caught Bishop Diego's and the chapter Subprior, Dominic's imaginations was a fervent missionary desire derived from the contact they had had with members of the Cathar heresy during their trip. It is said that on one of the stages of the outbound journey Dominic spent a whole night in discussion with the landlord, a Cathar believer, of their inn and that Dominic began to understand just how urgent it was to proclaim the true teaching of the Gospel. Coupled with this was also the experience of encountering the zeal with which the Danish clergy exercised their missionary activities among the nations of the Baltic region.

Diego and Dominic were so affected that upon their return they continued to Rome where Diego presented his resignation as bishop of Osma motivated by his intention to join the Danish clergy to help them in their missionary activities among the Baltic peoples. The lively and astute Pope Innocent III, who then governed the Church and was involved in a serious attempt at reform, rejected Diego's resignation instead sending him as a missionary to French lands infested by the Albigensian Heresy, where some members of the Cistercian Order were already in action. In 1206 the two Spaniards resumed their route northward, but slowly Dominic came to be convinced that the ban imposed on him by the pope to go to the Cumans and head instead to the Cathars and the Albigensians, could turn into a specific vocation for the Church to which he could devote all his possible energies. When at the behest of the pope they arrived in Montpellier, Diego and Dominic were met by discouraged papal legates who despite their efforts, had failed to achieve any success in combating the insidious heresy.

The Albigensians were the French version of the Cathars and derived their name from the town of Albi. Boasting a long Manichean pedigree as early as 1160 they had made the county of Toulouse into their stronghold. Several armed expeditions by local lords were launched against them, such as those led by Simon de Montfort, not forgetting the explosive excommunications repeatedly pronounced by Innocent III. Strengthened by their rigid hierarchical structure, but especially their life of perfect poverty, the Albigensians enjoyed the passionate trust of the local people.

They held strongly to the belief that the right to preach the doctrine received from Christ should be reserved to those who lived like the Apostles, namely, that they spent a life in poverty and itinerancy. The Albigensians had not witnessed such a lifestyle either by the Bishop of Rome or the other bishops, let alone in different canonical forms of life then widely practiced in Christendom.1 It was Jesus himself who traced the broad outlines of the figure of the Apostle, having summarized the requirements for his disciples when he sent them on a mission (Mt 10, 5-16, Mk 6, 7-13, Lk 10, 1-6). Their vocation was centered on the mission of proclaiming the Kingdom and on a way of life inspired by absolute poverty, both personal and communal. Itinerancy spurned the apostle to continuous travel so as to find every person of good will, without having to wait for them to turn up. Maintaining a minimum of community life, at least enough to exercise fraternal charity, was the last condition required for those who want to imitate the life of the apostles.

During the period of their missionary activity in southern France, Diego and Dominic were constantly in contact with these heretics who introduced themselves as austere and learned men, who knew the Holy Scriptures perfectly, but who lived mainly a style of life perfectly in keeping with the Gospel. There is no doubt that "it was [exactly] in this period that Dominic formed his idea of the rigorous and personally-involved missionary, inter infideles, in a community and individually".3 This transformation contributed greatly to the way Diego viewed his Episcopal mission. Postponed by Diego's testimony who said, "ubi episcopus, ibi Christus", Domenico slowly realized that the Episcopate was not merely the culmination of his career, but his full investiture by Christ on a mission to proclaim his Word. The characteristics that would later form the foundation of his order of Cenobites, doctors and apostles, were materializing slowly in the mind of the Spanish saint.4

The Narthex of Vézelay Cathedral brought to life for medieval people the missionary enthusiasm of the twelve apostles newly enlightened by the grace of Pentecost. It was this enthusiasm that Dominic wanted to bring back for his fellow friars when he decided to start his order. The lives of the apostles was the book from which one could learn the art of Christ's perfect life. It was the ideal of a life made real and worth living, because it was to them that Christ had given the title of friends: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."(John 15:15). Trained by Jesus himself, they would eventually become the heralds of his Word and his Kingdom of bliss.

Manifesting itself first in monastic life and then in the canonical, this 13th-century apostolic ideal changed its appearance in the newly formed Mendicant Orders and above all the Dominicans. Just how much this ideal had marked the missionary aspirations of Diego and Dominic became known in 1211 when Pierre de Vaux-de-Cernay, secretary of Abbot Arnauld of Citeaux the Holy See's legate for the mission against the Albigensians, recalled meeting Diego five years before after he had left the Curia, when he met the venerable Arnauld, Fr. Pierre de Castelnau and Fr. Raul. The three Cistercian legates confided unanimously to the Spanish bishop of wanting to abandon their special mission, which they believed by then hopelessly lost. Pierre recalled that Diego responded to their objections simply by telling them to continue preaching with even greater zeal than before, because to shut the mouths of one's opponents it was necessary to practice and preach (facere et docere) according to the example of the Divine Master. It was also essential to observe complete humility, walking on foot, without gold or silver, without any entourage or magnificent horses, namely that they imitate the behavior of the Apostles.5 According to the story then of the successor of St. Dominic and the first biographer of the Order, Jordan of Saxony, the papal legates who had gone to Diego followed his calling, dismissing their servants and keeping only their books and only their strictly necessary things.

It was not only the three Cistercians who heeded Diego's bidding, Dominic also wanted to lead an apostolic life and for nine years, starting in 1206, sought to do so while living close to Toulouse. The first success of Dominic's preaching was the conversion of a group of women followers of the Albigensian heresy, for whom he founded a monastery in Prouilhe, located near Fanjeaux, namely the town elected as the nerve-center of his ministry in Languedoc. The Dominican story then began with a twist since the second order appears to have been founded before the first. Accurate historical research has recently shown that this first foundation did not meet the condition of a community of people who had freely chosen the contemplative life, but rather it was a refuge for the converted who, for reasons related to the social and cultural circumstances of the time, were induced to retire to a cloistered life.7 Leaving aside whether it was Dominic and Diego who had taken the initiative of founding Prouilhe (although recent historical research seem to point towards the second hypothesis8), the newly formed Dominican nuns were given two principle assignments. The first was to offer an alternative acceptable to all heretical women in the area, which Dominic had identified as especially among the nobility who had embraced the heresy not by choice but out of necessity. The second was to receive, feed and clothe the Dominican monks who, although engaged in the Order's apostolic mission, were in those early years still without a supporting convent of their own.9 When Diego returned to Spain in 1207 to raise funds and recruit new preachers, he entrusted Dominic with the task of being the spiritual leader and legislator of the Prouilhe monastery, the reason why the Spanish saint thereafter assumed de facto control of the Order. Bishop Diego of Acabes then died just a few months later. This misfortune combined with the assassination of the legate Pierre of Castelnau at the hands of the Albigensians led Innocent III, deeply exasperated by the events, to call a crusade against the heretics. Once hostilities broke out it was extremely difficult for Dominic and the early companions he had gathered around him by then, to continue their peaceful missionary work. Their commitment, however, did not waver despite the attempts to deter them that emanated from several quarters. This was however the occasion when "Dominic realized that only a religious order could continuously offer the Church the adequately prepared preachers that it needed".10 Events proceeded quickly and at Fanjeaux in the years 1214 and 1215 Dominic and his brothers discussed seriously the possibility and necessity of founding an Order to continue the work they had undertaken. In the spring of 1215 Dominic's companions had come to a decision and Bishop Fulk of Toulouse established them as a fraternity of preachers in his diocese. Bernard and Pierre Seilhan, two wealthy citizens of the city, were the first to deliver their support to Dominic's hands. Pierre Seilhan gave Dominic some of his homes, the largest of which became the first convent of the Order. Shortly after Bishop Fulk gave them the church of St. Romain in Toulouse so that the fledgling community could administer there the Divine Office.

True to his own training Dominic, just six months after the establishment of this first fraternity, sent six brothers to listen to the lessons that the English master Alexander Stavensby was holding in the cathedral school of Toulouse. This founded a tradition for the Order of sending its novices to study in prestigious universities in Europe. Once a simple endorsement of Bishops, the Order now needed, in the eyes of Dominic, to obtain formal approval from the Pope who could grant its ecclesiastic soundness. The opportunity soon arouse in 1215 when Fulk was required to go to Rome along with Dominic to attend the Fourth Lateran Council. The reasons which had prompted Innocent III to hold a Council aimed to resolve some serious questions for the universal Church that could no longer be postponed and which required a radical spirit of reform. But what exactly was the social, cultural, political and religious situation at the opening of the Fourth Lateran?

2.The 13th Century: the historical context

The 13th century was a century of rapid social, cultural and theological changes. It was the century in which a strong spirit of regionalism and centralization combined to help produce a civilizing and binding effect on society. It was in this period that Philip II Augustus and Louis IX, Edward I and Frederick II, Saint Ferdinand III and Alfonso X imposed themselves as state builders and organizers of civil society. In 1204 the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders intensified relations that existed over a century between the Latin world and the Byzantine East. Islam finally retreated from the shores of the Mediterranean, until now dominated by Muslim ships which had made the sea their own, thus opening it once again to navigation and facilitating the exchange of goods and culture. The opening of the East to the merchants of Venice and other trading republics recontacted the Christian faith with the old Gnostic and Manichean religions. The religious spirit that then pervaded western Europe so deeply not only favored the fanaticism of the Crusades, but also gave rise to the new religious orders from the Franciscans to the Dominicans to the Carmelites and to the Augustinians, that would spread beyond. Those same heresies, also flourishing in this age, originated in this same feeling that not only inspired pilgrims to journey to the tombs of the Apostles, but invigorated the Church to a more faithful ruling of evangelical poverty, humility and itinerancy. In religious terms, under Pope Innocent III papal theocracy peaked, managing to penetrate the innermost recesses of diocesan and monastic life. In increasingly broad terms the Pope's control trod on the civilian lives of every believer and rulers, starting with the Holy Roman Emperor. Based on the path drawn by Pope Gregory VII the Papacy became in the eyes of every Christian an authority that ruled on earth requiring that every statesman recognize the essential role of the Church. The Pope thus became the supreme authority of public and private conduct, due to a moral authority from which no one could escape. The post-Roman world of ineffective politics on the Italian peninsula that had seen Christianity ruled by its bishops and the abbots of the various Benedictine monasteries, was changing. The new era of the Communes was on the horizon, announcing the first green shoots of a new springtime for Christianity, which sadly most churchmen failed to interpret. They were not capable of understanding that this unstoppable transformation concealed a desire to end the tyranny and egotism of the overlords. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, St. Dominic and St. Francis, the founders of the two major Mendicant Orders, understood. They counterpoised the opulence of the Benedictine monasteries, by seeking instead the poverty of the beggar. The convents of these brothers in Christ, these men who chose to live together to resemble Christ, the poor among the poor, no longer stood on the pale of daily life but had knowingly entered into the urban fabric, right where crafts were changing the market economy and the very social make-up. With their lifestyle, the strict adherence to poverty, the visible testimony of wishing to be among the people and with the people, the Dominicans and Franciscans were able to present themselves to city dwellers as credible witnesses of the Gospel. The foundation of universities was also decisive for theology, passing from the monastic schools, tied to the rhythms of contemplation and manual work, to the supervision of a professional body of teachers linked closely with the Faculty of Arts. University removed culture from what was hitherto the preserve of monastic, cathedral or imperial schools, to make it a shared heritage. Innocent III branded the news as contemptus mundi ('contempt for worldly things'), but the minds of 13th-century man began to make room for the idea of the worldly reality. The feudal power's days were numbered at the end of the 12th century and merchants with their tradition of risk taking were to become the new masters. Trade would have an especially safe future in Florence because of the development of the banking system despite the risks that it would entail.

Overall one can speak of a surprising new discovery, an innovation that will be a lasting success of the Middle Ages even now, the peak of its glory. This new vision, both sociological and cultural at the same time, is the discovery of the other. The European world that succeeded the fall of the Roman Empire had emerged from the tangle of the barbarian invasions and keenly felt the impact of these peoples with little idea of a central state. The clan or tribe were the only organized forms known to them. The individual held more value, loaning his fealty to the king as a man rather than as a people. The same monastic structure, modeled by St. Benedict on Roman law, centered on the life of the individual, focusing on the "monk", but little on the community. Despite the attempts of Gregory VII and Innocent III to impose upon Europe the idea of a strong and authoritative papacy, endowed with a spiritual power to which even the German Emperor had to submit, the city states, or Communes, began to break free, especially those in Italy, from Imperial power. Pretenders to the throne of Italy continued to come from Germany and choose to be crowned at Pavia or Milan and then go to Rome to receive the Imperial crown from the Pope's hands, but the Communes obtained more allowances and recognition of their autonomy. Florence, of all the Italian cities, experienced this transition with the greatest pride and originality, shaping the development of the merchant class, made up of guilds and crafts who with their progressive monopolies and their preference for autonomy were to become the real driving forces of the nascent city states. The increasing independence of the Italian and German cities was accompanied by the rise of a new social class that came to replace that of feudal lords and nobles, the bourgeoisie. The merchants were to feed a growing class of urban patricians whose wealth and culture began to rival those of noble lineage. Feudal wealth, derived mainly from land and built on a barter economy, was no longer capable of reacting to the new trade flourishing across European markets covering considerable distances, even beyond the Alps, that required hard cash, more that perishable goods. It was no coincidence that during this period when Florence introduced its coin, the gold florin, corresponding exactly to a pound of silver, that it won the confidence of the markets for the reliability of its workmanship and as a guarantee of its value.

The 13th century was a century that knew neither poverty nor the calamities of later centuries. Many things were blossoming starting with the arts. Not by chance was this the century when the need was felt to open up the monastic and cathedral schools to the nascent university population, and an endless source of intellectual, religious and social creativity. It is worth recalling that the origin of the heresies that had spread over the last two centuries, not least the Cathars, was not only a protest against the wealth and moral corruption of the clergy, but also because of the fact that Christian theology provided few answers to questions that began, in that century of awakening, to crowd the minds of men. Dominic knew and understood this intuitively when he thought of founding an order whose charisma consisted in the search for and witness of the truth. Medieval man's faith had hitherto remained satisfied with the response of ecstasy and contemplation that had been served up before him, but now demanded challenges that stemmed not from one's feelings, but from one's intellect. Popular devotion felt the need to clog the roads to Santiago de Compostela's cathedrals that were built according to a new style, later termed Gothic, which as well as being mystical expressions of faith were also genuine theological treatises in stone. Novels, short stories and tales were the foundries where people began to forge modern languages, themselves another indication of the novelty of the times. The passage from old Latin to new language uses was also an expression of new identities. This new language, spoken by the people and by the merchants, substituted the old one which was now only a diplomatic and liturgical language, providing a faithful mirror of the ideas, feelings and customs which were now spreading in this European renewal. This and more characterized the times as the idea of an Order took shape in St. Dominic's mind. His genius, however, was not so much in understanding and perceiving the change, but in being able to see that this radical transformation that spanned the centuries should therefore form one of the perennial features of an Order that was to be put to the service of the universal apostolic Church.

4. The specifics of the Order of the Friars Preachers

The Order was therefore founded but how did it look? In brief, one could summarize the program of the friars of the Order of Preachers as "the charity of truth", that their way of life is based on the correct balance between contemplation and action, reinforced by fellowship, prayer, study and preaching, the model for life of the Apostles.19 But it is a summary that should be explained and released. Dominic, recalled Jordan of Saxony, "spread the Gospel everywhere in words and deeds",20 motivated by one principle above all: the love of God’s charity. This particular form of love, which would bring him to tears, guided his life and was the model he wanted to shape the lifestyle of the Order he founded. One can also say that the very charisma of the Order of Friars Preachers is sermo sapietiae, namely the language of wisdom that the Apostle Paul speaks of in his letter to the faithful of Corinth (1 Corinthians 12:8). The intellectual awakening that occurred between the 12th and 13th centuries, a rousing caused by apparent economic progress and a general improvement in the quality of life, was understood by Dominic who turned it to the glory of God. He immediately sent his brother monks to the major universities of the times, from Paris to Oxford to Montpellier to Bologna, for an education but also because they discovered new callings there. He did not only need fervent hearts, but also enlightened minds able to proclaim wisely the Word entrusted to us by Christ. The charity of truth, it seems meant to Dominic a special way of loving God, men and the world, but it needs to be witnessed by well prepared and capable men. For Dominic’s friars this is their calling and the basis upon which they must build their lives. St. Catherine of Siena received from God a perfect summary of Dominic’s plan, when in the Dialogue she is reminded that "your father Dominic [...] wanted his brothers to expect only my honor and the salvation of souls by the light of wisdom. He wished to put his principle in this light without, however, compromising true and voluntary poverty. [...]. But he chose as a more specific goal the light of science, to eradicate the errors that were common in those days. He then assumed the office of the Word of my only-begotten son. He seemed even an apostle in the world, such was the truth and the light with which he sowed my Word, raising the darkness and spreading light."

Two actions spring from this love of truth, contemplation and apostolic action, the former being the the fruit and source of the latter. The Dominican Order does not see contemplation in the same way as traditional monasticism, which focuses on personal development. Rather it is contemplation of the mysteries of God's love that prompts the Dominicans to apostolic action and to provide the Witness of a life lived through contemplation and study of the Word. For a Dominican contemplation is both love of God and love of one’s neighbor; you talk to God in contemplation and speak of God by proclaiming the witness of his Word. When Bishop Fulk of Toulouse, in July 1215, made Dominic and his companions preachers of his diocese, even though he gave them the onerous task of "eradicating heresy, combating vice, teaching the rule of faith and teaching men morals," he knew they could do so because they "intended to practice evangelical poverty and preach the true Gospel".22 It is not an easy choice for an individual, requiring a community in which to share aims, prayers, study and to find comfort and relief. Dominic knew this, because he had first sensed it during the years of his lonely apostolate in the Albigensian lands. Hence it required all his care and attention to impose on his brother friars a community life and to provide the communities founded by him with precise rules by which to live in full accordance with the life of the apostles. From St. Dominic’s day until today the Constitutions of the Order reaffirm that only faithful observance, through community life, liturgical celebrations, study, the apostolic ministry, the observance of vows, and other deeds, gives meaning to Dominican life.

Before acceptance into the Order, Dominic asked two things of his novices: obedience and commitment to community life. The Augustinian Rite stresses community life, because being together, sharing everything from prayer to possessions was a sign of the primitive apostolic unity. Dominic's wish to imitate the life of the Apostles in every way, as the Dominican vocation, could not be achieved except in a community life. For him all that the Dominican does, from study to liturgical prayer to contemplative life and the observance of evangelical advice, to daily life and the ministry, has its foundation and its nourishment in community life. A Dominican community is not merely a fraternal association of people who have come together to achieve a common goal. It is much more. It is a Communion of charity, just as that of the apostles was, for "forming a community in religious life means not only being together, but living together".23 Community life is, in short, where souls engage in charity, by mutual consent and in emotional harmony. To experience the community is to share everything, not just the tangible fruits of one's labor, but also the whole of one's gifts, skills and charisma. The apostolic activity that each brother of the Order undertakes, is never a private matter but a work of the community. It is thus so in origin and in its development. Every apostolic action, whatever it may be, from teaching to missionary life, is always the result of a choice of the affiliated community.

As well as being together with others, the life of a Dominican also hinges on diligent study of the Word and the constant search for truth. Humbert de Romans wrote about this connection, "if study is expedient for other Orders, for Dominicans it is a duty".24 It was Dominic's burning desire to establish "a standing order of preachers, whose life was completely dedicated to the Word of God, requiring the granting of a privileged position to study".25 Such studies should aim not only to scrutinize meticulously the Word of God but also to acquire the best that tradition has assimilated and discovered, in every discipline that might be useful in making sure the truth be believed. Dominic urged his friar brothers to semper studere ("study always"). He went so far as to put study at the heart of community life when he asked that every convent include among its duties assigning a "monastery reader", to give continuous animation to a life of study. This pronounced sensitivity of the saint from Guzman to study explains why most of the innovations that he brought to the Premonstratensian Rite were in the field of study. Its centrality is quite evident from the way that the needs of community life were in some ways subordinated to it, for instance, in monastic architecture which now provided separate cells for each monk so that he could enjoy a comfortable environment in which to retire for contemplation and study. Studying, in the Latin sense of studium, for Dominicans involves both the privilege of learning from books and also the zeal which one applies to it. Dominic held this aspect so dear that the earliest legislation he passed states that no monastery could be founded without assigning first an academic "doctor". The Founder intended then that every monastery should be a real school of Theology.26 It is easy to understand why Dominican legislation from the mid-13th century, under the growing pressure of arising from the difficulty of balancing Community and liturgical hours with other duties, was required to remind all the friars periodically of their obligation to study. Studying did not mean an end in itself, but rather completely focusing on and searching for the truth. It is no coincidence that the great Dominican theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, who can rightly be considered one of St. Dominic's most faithful disciples, mentions the word veritas in the first sentence of both his two major works: the Summa theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles.

5. The early development of the Dominicans in Florence

The first twelve Dominicans arrived in Florence from Bologna in 1219. Their leader was Fr. Giovanni da Salerno, who had been assigned the mission due to the infestation of the Cathar heresy in the city. At first the monks stayed at the Hospital of San Gallo, but soon found lodgings in Pian di Ripoli, performing services in the Oratory of San Jacopo.27 The house, however, was too far from the city center making it difficult to carry out the apostolate, so in November they moved to San Paolo and San Pancrazio. Here they remained until 1221 when, the Blessed Giovanni da Salerno was called that year to the General Chapter, held in Bologna, and explained to St. Dominic the precarious nature of their presence in Florence. In the first half of June that year, St. Dominic went to Venice and raised the question of the Florence convent with the Cardinal Legate Ugolino d’Ostia. On June 14, 1221 in Venice, the Cardinal issued a letter, ordering, under his authority, that Fr. Giovanni da Salerno and his companions be granted the Church of San Pier Scheraggio. Yet, when in October of that year Cardinal Ugolino came to Florence and found that his orders had not been carried out, he gave the Dominican friars the Church of Santa Maria Novella, located outside the city walls. On November 12, in the choir of the church and in the presence of the canons of the Cathedral, the Cardinal Legate solemnly invested Giovanni da Salerno and the Dominican Order with possession of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, its houses, its cemetery and six bushels of land to turn over to farming. On November 20, 1221 the friars took formal possession of the new concession.

The church they received was a small "chiesetta" that stood near the Bascheria Gate along Via de’ Cenni (now Via Panciatichi), with the main entrance opening on what is now Piazza dell’Unità Italiana square, then called Piazza Vecchia. Seemingly from the beginning the first center of the convent was situated in the present day Chiostrino dei Morti ("Cloister of the Dead"). The old rules of the Order, to preserve and bear witness to the vow of poverty, specified that the churches of the monasteries should not have walls exceeding 30 feet in height and should not have vaulted ceilings, except in the choir and the sacristy. This meant that the friars, until the stewardship of Fr. Humbert de Romans, were forced to preach outside their convents in the great churches and piazzas of Florence. In 1264, under the master general Giovanni da Vercelli, the Dominican Order began construction of great churches in all of their convents. Despite the ban, however, we know that since 1246 the friars of Santa Maria Novella had wanted to enlarge or build a great church. The year before St. Peter Martyr had issued a special request to the Florentine Republic, seeking approval for the enlargement of the piazza located in front of the old church. On April 13, 1246, Pope Innocent IV granted a special indulgence to whoever helped the friars of Santa Maria Novella to build the new church and other buildings, helping them to carry out their apostolic mission. What works were actually undertaken is difficult to establish, but it is certain that at Pentecost in 1257 a General Chapter of the Order was held in Santa Maria Novella for the first time. A second was celebrated there in 1272 and a third in 1281. Hosting a general chapter meant accommodating some 150 monks, implying that the building would have been erected by 1250, or at least the beginning of the new convent, including the ground floor of the north side, which is now next to Piazza della Stazione, and at the eastern end overlooking the Cloister of the Dead.

Once the monastery was built the monks set to work constructing the church. On March 14, 1277, the Cardinal Legate Fr. Latino Malabranca Orsini granted power to the monks to gather offerings to help build a great Church. Meanwhile Fr. Aldobrandini de' Cavalcanti, during the episcopate in Orvieto, had amassed considerable funds that allowed them to start accumulating the necessary materials for the building work. Thus on October 18, 1279, the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, Cardinal Legate Malabranca was able to formally lay the foundation stone of the new Church, which, in Meersseman's words, marked a new chapter in the history of Romanesque architecture.28 It is hard to say at what pace the work proceeded and what the hardships were that went with the construction, but we know with certainty that in 1287 the new Piazza of Santa Maria Novella was completed and donated to the monastery. We know for sure that in 1308 the construction of the third arch of the east nave was authorized, thanks to the generosity of Minerbetti family, and that in 1325 work was underway on the facade, which was to be completely redone more than a century later by Leon Battista Alberti.

One could linger long on the description of the many works of art that the friars of Santa Maria Novella commissioned to famed and talented artists, but that is beyond the scope of this potted history. Instead, in conclusion, what we prefer to emphasize are the other, more important, works for a Dominican. Such eminent scholars as Fr. Remigio de' Girolami, or highly acclaimed preachers of the ilk of Fr. Jacopo Passavanti or Fr. Leonardo Dati, or reformers such as Blessed Giovanni Dominici, have operated in this convent over the years. If that were not enough, let us add that the apostolic zeal which has invigorated the friars of Santa Maria Novella has received confirmation in the list of the many related societies and confraternities. While there are too many to list here, it is worth mentioning the so-called Compagnia de' Luadesi, whose school appears to have been frequented by the young Dante Alighieri. He was to pick up the rudiments of the sciences there, as well as at Santa Croce, which would then be shaped at the school of Brunetto Latini, and later make him immortal through his art and the faith it expresses.