Christian Cyclopedia

Monastic order, noted for uncommon severity in its practices. Disheartened with degeneracy in the ch., Bruno* of Cologne formed a colony of hermits 1084 and founded La Grand Chartreuse (whence the name Carthusians), until 1903 chief house of the order, in a lofty valley near Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, ca 12 1/2 mi. N of Grenoble, Fr. Though he did not intend to found an order and wrote no rule, the order grew from his example and was officially recognized 1170. It boasts that it is the only monastic order that never required reforms. Its rule prescribes practical isolation not only from the world but also from brother monks. Each has his own cell. Manual labor, study, prayer, and contemplation follow in prescribed order. The smallest details of life are regulated. Not even the sick receive meat. Never very large, the order has ca. 20 monasteries.