The Dominican Order
The Dominican Order was founded by St. Dominic of Guzman after he adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, a set of rules guiding monastic life, in the early 13th century. St. Dominic worked on behalf of the Catholic Church and Pope Innocent III converting heretics, working particularly to convert the Albigensians in southern France in the lead up to the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229). The Order, also called the “Order of Friars Preachers,” was first recognized by Pope Innocent III in 1216 and had spread throughout Europe within the first half of the century.
St. Dominic was succeeded by Jordan of Saxony who became the first Master General of the Dominicans between 1221 and 1227. While not formally charged with the task, Jordan of Saxony worked to unify liturgy and chant within the Order. In 1254, Humbert of Romans was appointed as the fifth Master General and was given the specific task of unifying liturgy and chant; he followed a Cistercian model of reform that sought to renounce the extravagance of the Catholic Church and return to simpler monastic life and liturgy. Approved exempla for scribes were established to facilitate the unification of the liturgy and music. The rise of a uniform liturgy likely contributed to the vast geographical spread of Dominican chant, as well as the spread of square notation throughout Western Europe.
In addition to a simplified and standardized liturgy, another defining characteristic of the Dominican Order was a devotion to Mary. Though many religious orders at the time claimed that they were favored by Mary, none believed this more than the Dominicans. Several orders believed that the performance of certain texts would summon Mary in an apparition. The Dominicans hoped to increase this possibility by displaying a particular and frequent reverence to her in their liturgy, so much so that over one third of the entire Dominican sequence repertory was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The large proportion of sequences dedicated to the Virgin was particularly significant because of the small size of the Dominican repertory. This veneration of Mary within the Dominican Order will be further examined in the context of Ave virgo virginum in MS 24.