Nos attendentes is the incipit

Incipit

Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...

 designating a Papal bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 apparently issued in January 1217 by Pope Honorius III

Pope Honorius III

Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...

. Its genuineness has been suspected. If genuine, it is the second of the two bulls that established the Dominican Order

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 (for the first, see Religiosam vitam

Religiosam vitam

Religiosam vitam is the incipit designating a Papal bull issued on December 22, 1216 by Pope Honorius III. It established the Dominican Order....

). In it, the Pope describes the brothers of the Order as pugiles fidei et vera mundi lumina, "fighters for the faith and true lights of the world".

The original bull was kept at the convent of Prouille

Prouille

Prouille or Prouilhe , "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a convent, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207, is a hamlet in Languedoc, France, lying between Fanjeaux and Bram , at the point where the road from Castelnaudary to Limoux crosses the road from Bram to...

, Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...

's first foundation, and it was from this source that the Latin text was published in 1504 by Albert de Castillo. Later editions derive from this one. The documents of the convent were scattered at the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

; the original was then lost. The convent's cartulary containing a 17th century transcript was afterwards recovered, but was not shown to enquirers.