Dominicus Hispanus? The title may well surprise a reader since the Hispanic origin of the founder of the Order of Preachers is usually held to be of little importance, except to specify where he was born and in order to make mention of his mother, Juana of Aza. This could not be more different from the case of the man with whom he is most often compared, Francis of Assisi, whose Italian origins are always emphasized. Yet, unlike many of his contemporaries – such as the jurists Bernardus Compostellanus, Vicentius Hispanus, Laurentius Hispanus, Petrus Hispanus, and many others who became famous outside of their homeland – it appears that the term Hispanus is considered unnecessary to understand the life and work of Saint Dominic.

Scholars who have studied his life and works – such as the French Marie-Humbert Vicaire, the Belgian Pierre Mandonnet, the Spanish Luis G. Alonso Getino, and more recently the English Simon Tugwell – have been faced with many difficulties because of the sparse information available about the first Preacher's early life. It is only when Dominic leaves Spain and arrives in what is now southern France and is about to found the convent of Our Lady of Prouille in 1206 that he becomes a ‘public figure’. If, according to tradition, we accept the date of 1170 for his birth, he was then already about forty years old.