Dominican - Saint Dominic
The Order of Preaches, or the Dominicans, was founded by Saint Dominic and approved by the pope in 1217, meaning the foundation happened at the same as foundation of the Franciscans. The Dominican order was also a mendicant order, meaning that they lived by begging, and that they gave an oath to live in poverty. The pillars of the Dominicans were convincing preaching based on thorough and systematic studies, poverty and flexibility concerning location.
They were called the Order of Preachers because their goal was winning people for Christianity through preaching. Their main target group was heretics, and the order was used frequently during the inquisition to convince heretics about their mistakes. It should not surprise anyone that Thomas Aquinas, the big Christian theologian in the 13th century, was a Dominican.
The Dominicans in Hungary
Dominican runis within and outside the Hilton Hotel
The Dominicans founded their first monastery in Hungary in 1221. According to their own sources the Dominicans were to be found almost everywhere in Hungary, until the invasion from the Ottoman Empire. King Bela IV promised that if they would survive the Mongol invasion, he would dedicate his child to religion. He survived, and Margaret joined the Dominican convent in Veszprem. She was later transferred to the Margaret Island (then: Island of rabbits), where the ruins of the Dominican monastery still can be seen. Another monastery was to be found at the Buda hill, next to the Matthias Church. These ruins can today be seen around the Hilton Hotel and inside the Hilton Hotel, located next to the Matthias Church.
After this the Dominicans somehow loose their importance in the Hungarian history, and though they still exist and hang around, they are not as big as they once were. In 1950 there were around 100 monks, while nowadays (2010) there are three communities exisiting of totally 13 monks.