Fratres Minores sicut et nostri caritative et hilariter recipiantur, et secundum facultatem domus pie et honeste procurentur. (Constitutiones Ordinis Praedicatofum).

Let the Friars Minor be lovingly and cheerfully welcomed as our own brethren, and let them be worshipfully and fittingly entertained according to the means of the house.

The love which St. Francis and St. Dominic bore each other has become a lasting tradition and example among their children. The rule of special charity towards the Minors was one of the last legacies of St. Dominic to his Preachers; it is to be found in the Constitutions drawn up by him and approved by the General Chapter held at Bologna in 1221 a short time before the Saint’s death. At the same Chapter was decreed the foundation of the English Dominican Province, and straightway St. Dominic carried it into effect by sending from his side fit friars for the undertaking. Filled with the holy Founder’s own spirit they arrived in England in August, 1221, and were already settled in London and Oxford when in 1224 the Blessed Agnellus came with the first Minors. Mindful of St. Dominic’s rule of love, the London Dominicans eagerly welcomed the newcomers and made them tarry with them fifteen days, feeding and lodging them as though they were of their own family.

From London two Franciscans went to establish a house of their Order in Oxford, and Thomas of Eccleston, an early chronicler, has told the story of their coming.