Throughout the Order and from its very inception, Dominican friars saw themselves as imitators of the apostles. They therefore sought to “go out” beyond the cloister, providing all peoples with what they believed to be prerequisites for salvation: instruction in orthodox dogma and access to the ecclesiastical sacraments. In that sense the friars were always missionaries, and their mission field was universal. Nevertheless, in the medieval period, the Dominican Order as a whole did little to consciously or explicitly dedicate itself to any external mission of preaching among non-Christians. On the contrary, its leading administrators and theologians alike were quite consistent in maintaining a focus on internal missionary work dedicated to encouraging and preserving the spiritual health of the Christian faithful. This would prove true even in special frontier situations such as the Crown of Aragon and its environs, where contacts between believers and non-believers presented unique challenges.

Enthusiasm for proselytizing efforts among Muslims, Jews or other groups of “unbelievers” arose within the medieval Latin Church from time to time, but it was rarely if ever a dominant concern. Occasional initiatives, statements and policy documents advocating such missions must be understood primarily as the work of certain exceptional individuals, and for most of these individuals external mission comprised only a small part of wider theological–political visions.