Abstract

In the early fifteenth century the Order of Preachers had to face many problems both within the Order itself and externally: internally because the current of Observants, after the death of Raymundus of Capua (1330ca-1399) and the election of Thomas of Fermo († 1414) as the twenty-fourth successor to Saint Dominic, were rather reluctant to accept the policy of new Master of the Order, more moderate towards the Observance movement; externally, because Thomas of Fermo, an active participant in the Council of Pisa (1409) with a large contingent of the Dominicans, accepted the election of the Franciscan Pietro Filargis as Pope Alexander V (1339-1410) in order to put an end at the Great Western Schism. This paper tries to illustrate these dynamics which prevented a deep rift in the Dominican Order.