enriched the Middle Dutch vocabulary with neologisms
from scholasticism.
His dedication manuscript that has come down to us
is illuminated with superb miniatures with an aesthetic
as well as a didactic function. They form a concrete
support of the text. Besides richly illuminated manu-
scripts for the aristocracy, less luxuriously executed
manuscripts have survived as well. The latter were used
by the clergy and especially in nunneries and Beguine
communities. In an environment where knowledge of
Latin could be problematic, the vernacular Tafel van
den Kersten Ghelove fi lled a need for religious reading
material. In addition, many miscellanies with religious
texts contain excerpts from the Tafel van den Kersten
Ghelove. A Middle Low German adaptation exists as
well.
Further Reading
Daniëls, F. A. M. Meester Dirc van Delf. Zijn persoon en zijn
werk. Utrecht: N. V. Dekker and Van de Vegt en J. W. van
Leeuwen, 1932.
——. ed. Meester Dirc van Delf, Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove.
4 vols. Utrecht: N. V. Dekker and Van de Vegt en J. W. van
Leeuwen, 1937–1939.
van Oostrom, Frits P. Court and Culture: Dutch Literature,
1350–1450. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
An Faems
DOLCINO, FRA (D. 1307)
Fra Dolcino was the leader of the Apostolic Brother-
hood, a heretical sect centered in Parma. Under Dolcino
the brotherhood became increasingly violent, and it was
eventually suppressed by a crusade.
Dolcino was born in the diocese of Novara, the son
of a priest. He seems to have received a good educa-
tion before joining the Apostolic Brotherhood in 1291.
The brotherhood had been founded c. 1260 by Gerardo
Segarelli; through preaching and apostolic poverty, it
sought to usher in a new age of Christian perfection,
which the disciples of Joachim of Fiore had predicted
would begin in that year. The brotherhood was toler-
ated at fi rst, but after 1290 it became a target of the
Inquisition.
Segarelli was executed in 1300, and soon afterward
Dolcino became the leader of the sect. Dolcino proposed
a radical form of Joachism that condemned all his op-
ponents, especially the clergy, as ministers of the devil
and declared them worthy of death because they were
oppressing the true church. He also claimed that he and
Segarelli had been sent by God to restore the apostolic
life in preparation for Christ’s second coming, and that
he spoke with the authority of God.
Dolcino and a band of followers fl ed to the mountains
shortly after he took control of the Apostolic Brother-
hood, and soon they were plundering the countryside
from a stronghold in the Alps. Pope Clement V called
a crusade against them in 1305; two years later an
expedition led by the bishop of Vercelli defeated them
and captured Dolcino. He was executed on 23 March
1307.
See also Clement V, Pope; Joachim of FioreFurther ReadingEdition
Bernard Gui. Practica inquisitionis haereticae pravitatis, ed.
Célestin Douais. Paris: Picard, 1886, pp. 340–353.
Critical Studies
Anagnine, Eugenio. Dolcino e il movimento ereticale all’inizio
del Trecento. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1964.
Bossi, Alberto. Fra Dolcino, gli apostolici e la Valdesia. Borgo-
sesia: Corradini, 1973.
Duprè Theseider, Eugenio. “Fra Dolcino, storia e mito.” Bollettino
di Società di Studi Valdesi, 104, 1958, pp. 5–25.
Miccoli, Giovanni. “Note sulla fortuna di Fra Dolcino.” Annali
della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Series 2(25), 1956,
pp. 245–259.
Orioli, Raniero, ed. Fra Dolcino: Nascita, vita, e morte di
un’eresia medievale, 3rd ed. Novara: Europia, 1988.
Thomas TurleyDOMINIC, SAINT (C. 1170–1221)
Saint Dominic (Domingo de Guzmàn), the founder
of the Dominican order, was born in Castile. He did
not come to Italy until he was already the father of the
fl edgling Order of Preachers, but he spent much of his
later life in Italy, and he died in Bologna. His remains
rest in the church of San Domenico in Bologna, where
they are housed in a great stone monument designed
by Nicola Pisano and decorated with scenes from the
saint’s life and the early years of the order.
As with many saints, Dominic’s early life is almost
undocumented, but portents were written into it later. His
mother was said to have dreamed that she gave birth to
a dog holding a torch in its mouth: the dog symbolized
Dominic’s order, which saw itself as God’s watchdogs
(domini canes) protecting the fl ock from the wolves
of heresy; the torch symbolized Dominic’s work of
rekindling the fi re of charity in a world grown cold. The
reality was less dramatic: Dominic became a cleric at an
early age and was educated by an uncle. He later studied
in Palencia, where he acquired a reputation for devotion
and zeal. This led to his appointment as subprior of the
cathedral chapter in Osma.
In 1203, Dominic accompanied Bishop Diego
d’Acebes of Osma (d. 1207) on a diplomatic mission to
Denmark. While the two were returning to Castile, they
stopped in Montpellier, where they encountered Cister-DIRC VAN DELF