Little Book on the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers (Libellus)

Jordan of Saxony joined the Preachers at Paris and, as he says himself, had been in the order less than two months when he was sent to its first general chapter at Bologna in 1220. He succeeded Dominic as master. In his prologue he says he was not one of the first brothers but lived with them, knew Dominic well, and writes down what he saw and heard or learned from the earliest friars, so that those who come later will know how the order began.

The book speaks of Bishop Fulk of Toulouse as dead and of Gregory IX as the reigning pope, and it ends with the moving of Dominic’s body at Bologna in May 1233. It is an insider’s history written for the edification of the brothers. Its dates for the years 1215 to 1221 are those of a man who was there for the last of them and had the rest from Dominic’s companions.