ABSTRACT
The Dominicans are fortunate in possessing a wide range of source material, not least through the detailed Statutes that regulated their Order. From annals or chronicles recording events of significance in their houses to wills and other documents providing evidence of donations and deeds of purchase, a strong impression is created of the norms of mendicant life. Before turning to those whom people may term 'the bad guys' or 'the good guys' in the Penitentiary archives, it will be of value briefly to explain the nature of the Penitentiary and its competence in the later Middle Ages. The relatively small number of Dominican supplicants in the Penitentiary registers results partly from the many strategies of the Order for dealing with certain matters without papal interference. In considering the type of evidence provided by the Penitentiary material, there are several different kinds of supplications from the Dominicans which were handled in the Penitentiary.
