The Dominicans in the British Isles and Beyond
A New History of the English Province of the Friars Preachers

Eight centuries have passed since the Dominicans first arrived on England's shores. This is the history of their fascinating story.

Richard Finn (Author)

9781009164337, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 March 2023

450 pages, 20 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.5 x 2.6 cm, 0.8 kg

'This is an accessible account of the history of the Order from 1221 until 2021 and one that should attract a great deal of interest from readers. Richard Finn nimbly makes his way through the early history of the English Province, incorporating many of the sources published in the last seventy years. He then significantly expands knowledge of the Order as it strove to deal with the political constraints of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and brings the history of the English Dominicans into the new millennium and lifetime of the author. Finn adopts an even-handed approach to the multiple sources, and is content to let the records speak for themselves. His book offers a very worthy commemoration of the eighth centenary of the Friars' arrival in England.' Michael Robson, St Edmund's College, Cambridge

The history of the Dominicans in the British Isles is a rich and fascinating one. Eight centuries have passed since the Friars Preachers landed on England's shores. Yet no book charting the history of the English Province has appeared for close on a hundred years. Richard Finn now sets right this neglect. He guides the reader engagingly and authoritatively through the medieval, early modern and contemporary periods: from the arrival of the first Black Friars – and the Province's 1221 foundation by Gilbert de Fresnay – to Dominican missions to the Caribbean and Southern Africa and seismic changes in church and society after Vatican II. He discusses the Province's medieval resilience and sudden Reformation collapse; attempts in the 1650s to restore it; its Babylonian Exile in the Low Countries; its virtual disappearance in the nineteenth century; and its unlikely modern revival. This is an essential work for medievalists, theologians and historians alike.

1. The Making of an English Multi-National: 1221–1348
2. From the Black Death to the Tudor Suppressions: 1348–1559
3. An Unorganised Mission: 1559–1655
4. A European Foundation: 1655–1827
5. Apostolic Missioners: 1655–1850
6. The Re-makings of an Observant Province: 1850–1913
7. 'Jarrett's Jam': The Re-Shaping of the Province: 1914–1963
8. From 'Acute Agony' to 'Rebirth', 1964–2021.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Church history [HRCC2], History of religion [HRAX], British & Irish history [HBJD1]