Birth and early life Dominic was born in
Caleruega, halfway between
Osma and
Aranda de Duero in
Old Castile,
Spain. He was named after
Saint Dominic of Silos. The
Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few miles north of Caleruega. In the earliest narrative source, by
Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are not named. The story is told that before his birth his barren mother made a pilgrimage to the
Abbey at Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a flaming torch in its mouth, and seemed to set the earth on fire. This story is likely to have emerged when his order became known, after his name, as the
Dominican order,
Dominicanus in Latin, and a play on words interpreted as
Domini canis: "Dog of the Lord." Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Order's early years, rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source of the 13th century gives their names as
Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, the local author
Rodrigo de Cerrato asserted that Dominic's father was an honored and wealthy man in his village. The travel narrative of
Pero Tafur, written circa 1439 (about a pilgrimage to Dominic's tomb in Italy), states that Dominic's father belonged to the family
de Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to the
Aça or Aza family. Dominic's mother,
Joan of Aza, was beatified by
Pope Leo XII in 1829. His older brother,
Manés was also beatified by
Pope Gregory XVI on 1834.
Education and early career At fourteen years of age, Dominic was sent to the
Premonstratensian monastery of
Santa María de La Vid and subsequently transferred for further studies in the schools of Palencia. In Palencia, he devoted six years to the
arts and four to
theology. At some point in time he also joined Santa María de La Vid. At the age of 24, Dominic was ordained as a priest and joined the
canonry of the
Cathedral of Osma. In 1198, Don Martin de Bazan, the
Bishop of Osma, having reformed the chapter, made Dominic the subprior of the chapter. The envoys traveled to Denmark via
Aragon and the south of
France. The marriage negotiations ended successfully, but the princess died before leaving for Castile. During their return journey, they met with
Cistercian monks who had been sent by Pope Innocent III to preach against the
Cathars, a religious sect with gnostic and dualistic beliefs which the Catholic Church deemed heretical. Dominic and Diego de Acebo attributed the Cistercians' lack of success to their extravagance and pomp compared to the asceticism of the Cathars. Dominic and Diego decided to adopt a more ascetic way of life and began a program in the south of
France to convert the Cathars.
Prouille In late 1206, Acebo and his group established themselves at the
Monastery of Our Lady of Prouille in
France. Bishop Foulques of Toulouse allowed them to use the church. The house was intended partly as a refuge for women who had previously lived in Cathar religious houses, and partly the first established base of operations. The first nuns of Prouille lived for several months at Fanjeaux, because the buildings at Prouille were not yet habitable. Dominic gave them the
Rule of St. Augustine. Catholic-Cathar debates were held at
Verfeil,
Pamiers and
Montréal. Ordered by the Pope to return to his diocese, Diego de Acebo died at Osma in December 1207, leaving Dominic alone in his mission. This gave rise to the title
Our Lady of the Rosary. The prayer beads were well-known at the time; it was not the beginning of rosary devotion, but Dominicans contributed much to its spread. For centuries the rosary has been at the heart of the
Dominican Order.
Pope Pius XI stated, that the rosary is "the principle and foundation on which the Order of St. Dominic rests for perfecting the lives of its members and obtaining the salvation of others."
Foundation of the Dominicans In 1215, Dominic with six followers moved into a house given them by Peter Seila of
Toulouse. Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities of the era, one that would combine dedication and systematic education, with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. He subjected himself and his companions to the
monastic rules of
prayer and
penance;
Bishop Foulques of Toulouse gave them written authority to preach throughout his territory. Also in 1215, the year of the
Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of
Pope Innocent III. Dominic returned to Rome a year later and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 by the new pope,
Honorius III, for him to form the
Ordo Praedicatorum ("Order of Preachers"). Although he traveled extensively to maintain contact with his growing brotherhood of friars, Dominic made his headquarters in Rome. In 1219, Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at the ancient Roman
basilica of
Santa Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Before that time the friars had a temporary residence in Rome at the convent of
San Sisto Vecchio, which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218, intending it to become a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. The official foundation of the Dominican convent at
Santa Sabina with its
studium conventuale, the first Dominican
studium in Rome, occurred with the legal transfer of property from Pope
Honorius III to the
Order of Preachers on 5 June 1222, though the brethren had taken up residence there already in 1220. The
studium at Santa Sabina was the forerunner of the
studium generale at
Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The latter would be transformed in the 16th century into the College of Saint Thomas (), and then in the 20th century into the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum sited at the convent of
Saints Dominic and Sixtus. Dominic arrived in Bologna on 21 December 1218. A convent was established at the Mascarella church by
Reginald of Orleans. Soon afterward they had to move to the church of San Nicolò of the Vineyards. Dominic settled in this church and held the first two General Chapters of the order there. According to Guiraud, Dominic abstained from meat, "observed stated fasts and periods of silence", "selected the worst accommodations and the meanest clothes", and "never allowed himself the luxury of a bed". "When traveling, he beguiled the journey with spiritual instruction and prayers". Guiraud also states that Dominic frequently traveled barefoot and that "rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God". Dominic died at the age of fifty-one, according to Guiraud "exhausted with the austerities and labors of his career". He had reached the convent of St Nicholas at
Bologna,
Italy, "weary and sick with a fever". Guiraud states that Dominic "made the monks lay him on some sacking stretched upon the ground" and that "the brief time that remained to him was spent in exhorting his followers to have charity, to guard their humility, and to make their treasure out of poverty". He died at noon on 6 August 1221. His body was moved to a simple sarcophagus in 1233. Under the authority of
Pope Gregory IX, Dominic was canonized in 1234. In 1267 Dominic's remains were moved to
the shrine, made by
Nicola Pisano and his workshop for the
Church of St. Dominic in Bologna. ==Inquisition==