The Dominican Order was founded in France in 1216 by the preacher Dominic Guzman to counter the Albigensian movement and all other "heresies".
It was a mendicant preaching order whose members observed individual poverty. The popularity of their sermons and the support of the population meant that it soon became one of the wealthier orders in Europe. The most famous member of the order was the philosopher St Thomas Aquinas. The order arrived in Poland in 1223, reaching Kraków first, and its monasteries later developed throughout Poland. In Silesia, the earliest was in Wrocław (1226).
The Dominicans probably settled in Bolesławiec at the end of the 13th century. In 1298, there is information that the Dominicans had the right to preach, hear confessions and conduct funerals. They also preached in nearby towns, for example Zgorzelec. A list of the order's members from 1326 has survived, recording approximately 70 monks and many Polish surnames (Mikołaj Kobacz, Wacław Donat, Augustyn Jakubilec). The order retained its original Polish character (Silesia no longer belonged to Poland, but to the Czech Luxembourgs).
The Hussite Wars, and particularly the Hussite raid on the city in 1429, destroyed the monastery, and the monks, priests and others from the churches were massacred (sources state that they were burned alive). The monastery was quickly rebuilt (1432).
The Reformation in Europe, beginning in 1517, and the adoption of Martin Luther's teachings by many German states also changed the situation of the Dominicans. The Protestant majority in the city began pressuring the City Council to dissolve the monastery. Some of the monks also converted to Protestantism. In 1545, the Dominican community in the city was dissolved, and a sulphuric acid and saltpetre plant was opened in the monastery buildings.
In 1575, part of the buildings and the church were demolished. After the Thirty Years' War, taking into account the role the order had played in defending Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation, the Dominicans returned to Bolesławiec in 1660. They received compensation, which made it possible to rebuild the monastery and church in the Baroque style between 1670 and 1676.
In 1810, the Dominican order was secularized, which consequently meant the end of the Order. An evangelical school was established in the monastery buildings. During the Napoleonic era, they housed food and fodder stores as well as a military hospital. In 1816, the Dominican church was finally demolished, and some of the buildings were adapted for use as a vocational school.
Only one building from the entire monastery complex remains; today it serves as the office building of the Municipal Office on Teatralna Street.