The Dominicans are a mendicant order of monks. The order was created in 1216 by the Spanish saint Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221).

Dominic visited Denmark in 1203 to help with the arrangement of the marriage of the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158-1214) to the niece of Valdemar II of Denmark (1170-1241). 

Dominican monks were known as Blackfriars because of the black cloak that they wore over their white habits. The Dominicans fought heresy and were responsible for both the Albigensian crusade against the Cathars and the Inquisition. The Dominicans were known as the Hounds of the Lord which was a play on words of the Latin "Domini canes", and referred to their fierce attacks on heresy and heretics.

The Dominicans were a learned order and were often teachers of the scholastic method in Europe's early universities. Among the most famous Dominican scholars were the intellectuals Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).

In Denmark, the first Dominican monastery was created in 1222 in Lund. Eventually there were 15 Dominican monasteries in Denmark. After the Reformation in 1536, most of the Dominican monasteries were torn down, but there are still some fine examples to be seen in Holbæk, Ribe and Aarhus.