The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel; ) is a Roman Catholic religious order. It was begun in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, from which the order receives its name. St. Albert of Jerusalem gave the group its rule for life in 1206. Few clear records of early Carmelite history have survived. Women were officially accepted into the Order as nuns in 1452.