Religiosam vitam

Religiosam vitam is the incipit designating a papal bull issued on 22 December 1216 by Pope Honorius III. It gave universal recognition to the Dominican Order.^[1] The order already had monasteries in Rome, Paris and Boulogne and had already been locally recognized by the bishop of Toulouse the year before – its creation had coincided with the Albigensian Crusade in southern France, in whose support the Dominicans had been very active. It adopted the Rule of St Augustine, but was also regulated by rulings and decisions taken by its own regular general chapters.