Known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Carmelites are
unique, in that they claim no founder. Hermits lived on Mt. Carmel in
pre-Christian times, and Christian hermits continued to do so. St. Berthold
attempted to gather these hermits into an organized community in 1154.
Albert the Patriarch of Jerusalem petitioned Rome that they be recognized
as an order within the Church. They were given the Rule of St. Augustine
to follow and were grouped with the emerging mendicant orders. Their
life was one of extreme asceticism. They came to England after the failure
of the Crusades, arriving around 1240. They lived in monasteries, called
priories, and at their height had 50 houses before the Dissolution.
Their nickname, The White Friars, came from the color of the cloaks
they wore over their brown habits.