Firenze, gli eretici e i frati Predicatori nella prima metà del Duecento

The article shows that the early Dominican presence in Florence was related to the existence of a local Cathar church. It also illustrates the mission undertaken by the Dominican community in Florence to reform the monastic institutions, promote the ecclesial and anti-heretical commitment of the laity to the point of inspiring the setting up of the Servants of Mary, and carry out the inquisitorial office. The mission’s development came between two episodes of sacralizing urban space: the bringing in of St Philip’s relic to combat heresy and the creation of the Most Holy Annunciation shrine. The shrine’s creation was part of an organized process to increase the Marian cult in the city through the founding of Marian confraternities and the spread of new devotions to the Virgin Mary maintaining an anti-heretical function.