Summary Henry Bitterfeld?s De formatione et reformatione Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum was the first work of its kind written in support of the Observant Reform of the Dominican Order, which took off in the late fourteenth century. It was probably composed around 1388-1389 at the request of the Order?s Master General, Raymond of Capua, who formally launched the reform in 1390. The treatise is organized into three parts: first, the principles of religious life in general; second, the causes of the crisis within the Order of Preachers; and third, the remedies by which it might be resolved. It concludes with a commentary on the prologue to the Dominican Constitutions. Bitterfeld?s work survives in four manuscript copies, along with three distinct medieval abridgements. Taken together, these testify not only to the reception of the text itself but also to the spread of Observant Reform ideals both within and beyond the Dominican Order. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction Henry Bitterfeld and his work The De formatione et reformatione and the observant reform of the Dominican order Ratio edendi Editorial principles Bibliography Primary sources Secondary literature Textus Conspectus siglorum et abbreviationum Prologus I. De religionum racionabili institucione II. De defectu regularis obseruancie III. De reformacione in generali IV. Cause speciales circa materiam professionis Indices Index locorum Sacrae Scripturae Index fontium