1

THE HISTORICAL APPROACH TO THE RULE OF CARMEL

FR. KEES WAAIJMAN, O.CARM

Introduction
The Rule of Carmel was written by Albert of Avogadro, (born around 1150), who was elected Patriarch
of Jerusalem by the canons of the Holy Sepulcher in 1205. In 1214, almost 65 years old, he was
stabbed to death during a procession. Between 1206 and 1214 he presented his Rule to the hermits on
Mount Carmel. Albert was well-equipped to write the Carmelite Rule. He was well-informed about the
then-current movements of religious renewal and well versed in juridical matters. Although the Rule of
Carmel is the most diminutive among its peers
1
, in its succinctness it has the expressiveness of a poem.
In it, several layers of meaning engage one another.

Literary viewpoint
From a literary point of view the Carmelite Rule is a letter. The twelfth century was the Golden Age of
the art of letter writing
2
. There was a strong demand for good letter writers at the ecclesiastical and
court chancelleries which were emerging at the time. To meet this demand academic training was
available for those who sought to learn "the art of letter writing" (ars dictandi or ars dictaminis). To
help them learn this art, teachers as well as students had access to detailed handbooks containing
numerous model letters.

Every letter had the following standard form:
a) Opening words (salutatio or prologus);
b) Starting point (exordium);
c) Exposition (narratio);
d) Request (petitio);
e) Conclusion (conclusio).


1
See Regole monasticbe d'occidente, Magnano 1989.
2
For an overview see G. CONSTABLE, Letters and Letter-Collection, Tumhout 1976; C. LANHAM, Salutatio
Formulas in Latin Letters to 1200: Syntax, Style and Theory, Miinchen 1975; both contain extensive bibliographies. For the
spiritual literature see J. LECLERCQ, Le genre epistolaire au moyen age, in Revue du Moyen Age Latin, 1946, II, 63-70; M.
KORS, Epistolaire aspecten van de geestelijke brief (ca. 1350-1550), in Boeken voorde eeutoigbeid, Amsterdam 1993, 52-
69.


2

The Rule of Carmel, written at the beginning of the thirteenth century, corresponds to this standard
form: following the opening greeting (salutatio), Albert unfolds his starting point, the core of the
religious life (exordium), after which he gives an exposition of the Carmelite form of life (narratio). In
this Carmelite form of life he aspires to see the core of the religious life realized (petitio). Finally,
Albert takes his leave (conclusio).

I will give two examples of this literary approach. You will see how important it is for our
understanding of the Rule. Every standard letter opens with a salutation or prologue composed of three
elements:

1) the name of the sender (intitulatio): "Albert by the grace of God called to be Patriarch of the
Church of Jerusalem";
2) the name of the addressee (inscriptio): "to his beloved sons in Christ, B. and the other hermits
who are living under obedience to him at the spring on Mount Carmel";
3) the greeting (salutatio): " Salvation in the Lord and the blessing of the Holy Spirit".

In a hierarchically organized society such as the medieval one, people carefully saw to it that the proper
titles (of the sender) and forms of address (pertaining to the recipient) were used. The sequence, too,
required precision: first the name of the more highly placed person, then that of the less highly placed
person.

In his main work Dictamina rhetorica (1226-79), professor and master letter writer Guido Faba, shows
on the basis of 220 examples how people of different classes ought to write each other
3
. The
hierarchical relation between sender and addressee must be expressed as accurately as possible
4
as a
way of confirming the sociopolitical network in which they function
5
. For the Rule of Carmel it is
interesting to see - as is evident from Faba's model letters - how the pope and his patriarchs constitute
the top of the pyramid, while the hermits - under the monks! - are the bottom
6
. Meeting in Albert's
letter, therefore, are the extreme ends of the hierarchical ladder. On the one side is Albert. He is

3
C. FAULHABER, The Summa dictaminis of Guido Paba, in Medieval Eloquence, Berkeley-Los Angeles-London 1978,
95.
4
Ibid., 96.
5
For the political and cultural implications, d. A. ENGELBRECHT, Das Titeluiesen bei den spdtlateiniscben
Epistolograpben, Wein 1893; H. WOLFRAM, Intitulatio, in.Mittellungen des Instituts fur osterreicbische
Gescbicbtsjorscbung, 21,Graz 1967.
6
C. FAULHABER, Summa dictaminis, 96.
3

referred to by name at the top of the letter. He is patriarch of the church of Jerusalem, the center of
Israel's religion, the city of kings and priests, the most ancient church community of a long-established
church. He fulfils an established role and occupies a permanent position. He is at the center of religious
power, a power that operates with accepted norms and proven sanctions. The group addressed, the
person B, and the other hermits, remain anonymous. Their leader is nameless. In relation to the
patriarch the hermits are called sons. Like Elijah they have secluded themselves in the solitude of an
inhospitable mountain range. They make their home near a Spring, the stream of life in which they
share.

Albert's Rule situates the addressees in an atmosphere of anti structure. This position makes them
inwardly sensitive to the early prophetism of which Elijah is the prototype. They feel inwardly allied
with the mendicants whose lifestyle they will share later on in Europe. A critical question is: do the
Carmelites really want this anti-structure? In the mystical tradition this anti-establishment structure was
really sought and beloved. But there are also forces at work which drive the Carmelites in the direction
of the centers of power: to gain privileges and mandates, to defend orthodoxy, and to discredit the
marginal positions of others. The opening of the Rule is a dangerous reminder: the position of laymen
who, on the margins of the world of that day, opted for the solitariness of an inhospitable mountain
range and there drank from the Sprint.

The second example is the exordium.
Following the opening, in a standard letter, comes the introduction
7
. The purpose of the introduction is
to state the point of the exposition which follows
8
. The expert Guido Faba (ca. 1190- 1245), who wrote
four treatises on this part of the letter alone, compares the introduction with the foundation of a house
9
.
This foundation may be a proverbial saying or a Bible quotation. Guido Faba offers no fewer than 330
examples. The introduction resembles the major in a classic syllogism
10
: the foundational framework
which serves as backdrop for the concrete exposition (the minor) which follows. Together they lead to
the request (petitio): i.e, the conclusion.

Albert opens the major of his letter with the initial words of the Letter to the Hebrews.

7
The exordium, also called the prooemium or prologus.
8
C. FAULHABER, Summa dictaminis, 93-97; Lanham, Salutatio Formulas, 93-109.
9
C. FAUUIABER, ibid., 94.
10
Ibid., 97-98. Such a major is: "All men are mortal". The minor concerns the special case. E.g.: "Gaius is a man". The
conclusion, then, is "Gaius is mortal".
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a) In many and various ways
b) the holy fathers have laid down how everyone,
c) whatever his state of life or whatever kind of religious life he has chosen,
d) should live in allegiance (loyalty, commitment, faithfulness, adherence) to Jesus Christ
e) and serve him faithfully
f) from a pure heart and a good conscience".

All religious life form are marked by a how in which all members school themself, regardless of the
order to which they belong or the kind of religious observance they have chosen. Albert evokes the
pluriformity of the religious life. His main focus, however, concerns the religious core which applies to
everyone: "to live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ and serve him faithfully with a pure heart and a
good conscience". To the discerning reader Albert here verbalizes the two aims which apply to all
forms of religious life: purity of heart and contemplation
11
. Every religious life form has a
programmatic design (a skopos)
12
. Under this heading falls everything we can do by ourselves: the
ascetic side of the life. They have a practical objective of their own: purity of heart.

Purity of heart reaches its fulfillment in the reception of God: contemplation. This is its final goal
(telos) which, however, cannot be reached by works: it lies beyond the practical objective. This is the
exordium: Every religious has his own lifestyle. Every lifestyle is possessed in purity of heart, which
receives the blessing of the Lord. Thus every religious lifestyle lives in allegiance to Jesus Christ, not
only the Carmelite.

11
Cd. J. CASSIAN, Conferences 1: 2-5.
12
For this, John Cassian borrowed the Greek work skopos and called this aspect of the religious life praktike, something a
person can work at.