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The devotion of the Rosary, already in use among the Cistercians as early as the 12th century, experienced a great increase in popularity thanks to the influence of the Dominicans, from the 13th to the 15th century.
According to tradition, St. Dominic of Guzman, the founder of the Dominican Order, received the Rosary directly from the Virgin Mary in several apparitions, as a gift to help convert sinners. He thus asked his brothers religious to wear a rosary on their belts. Numerous artistic representations depict the Virgin Mary entrusting the Rosary to St. Dominic.
The rise of Marian piety was also a result of the great plague of 1349, and it was in the following century that this prayer took the name of Rosary. The name "Rosary", from the medieval Latin rosarium, refers to a wreath of roses placed on the Virgin Mary as a crown, the rose being a Marian symbol.
In the 15th century, the Carthusian Dominic of Prussia invented and taught the faithful a form of Marian psalter with only 50 Hail Marys, each followed by a "clausule". The clausulae are small additions to the Hail Mary prayer, which follow the name of Jesus and help with the meditation of the mystery being contemplated. In this way, the two-fold purpose of the Rosary, which is directed both towards the Virgin Mary and Jesus, is deepened.
The Dominican Alan de la Roche (1428-1478), a true apostle of the Rosary, did a great deal of work to promote the Marian Psalter, through his preaching and through the Rosary confraternities he founded, which were immensely successful as far away as Italy and all of Western Europe. It was at this time that the name "Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary" began to be used.
A little later, the Dominican Alberto Castellano (1450-1523) simplified the Rosary: he chose 15 gospel passages for meditation, and added the short prayer at the end of the Hail Mary.
Isabelle Rolland, Le Rosaire, présent du Ciel et chemin de sainteté (The Rosary, Gift from Heaven and Path to Holiness)