The official name of the order is 'Ordo Praedicatorum' and they are also known as Friars Preachers or simply Blackfriars. They were founded by St Dominic (c.1170-1221) and approved by the pope in 1216. Their task was the defense of the Roman Catholic faith in times of heresy and dissolution. Although the ideal of personal and corporate poverty was soon given up, the order was devoted to preaching, teaching and missionary work. It rapidly spread all over Europe (60 houses in 1221) and brought forth a great number of men of learning, such as Thomas Aquinas or Albertus Magnus.

In 1221, a group of twelve friars arrived at Dover under the protection of the Archbishop of Canterbury. They founded their first house at Oxford and in 1224 their second in Holborn, London. Norwich, Shrewsbury and Carlisle were the next foundations. In the 1230's, nearly every larger town had a Dominican priory. In 1260 there were 36 in England, five in Wales and nine in Scotland, and by the end of the century there was a total of almost sixty houses.

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