DOMINICANS, the name by which the disciples of St Dominic became known. The Dominican order was founded, as stated in the article on the founder, in 1216 by a bull of Honorius III. It conformed to the general rule of the Augustinia.ns, but further embra.ced a rule of absolute poverty or mendicancy, in addition to the usual vows of chastity and obedience. Its members were supposed to be exclusively devoted to preaching and public instruction, and. were described as mendicant or preaching friars. The order held its first chapter in the year 1220 at Bologna, under the presidency of its founder. It adopted as its insignia within the cloister a white robe and white hood, to which it added outside a black cloak, hence the popular name of black friars by which the Dominicans became known in England. The novitiate was for a year, and candidates were mainly recruited from the schools founded by the order, which became the nurseries of great preachers and great theologians. The order speedily extended itself through the whole Christian world, and popes, cardinals, and learned doctors sprang from it in numbers. Its preachers and teachers addressed all classes, invaded " the high places of the human intellect," and were soon found, as Milman says, " disputing in the universities of Italy and Germany, in Cologne, Rome, and Oxford. Before long they were to claim two of the greatest luminaries of the prevalent philosophy, Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas."