Following the victory of Saladin against the Christians at Hattin in 1187 in the Second Crusade, the eremitical life in the open countryside became difficult. Although Carmel stayed relatively peaceful, by 1229, a number of hermits decided to return or migrate to the West. Foundations were made in Messina (Sicily), Aylesford (England), Hulne (England), and Les Aygalades (France). Foundations were also made in Nicosia (Cyprus), then in Frankish hands.

The move to Europe did not afford the Carmelites the opportunity to continue to live only in remote areas. Europe required a more communal, active lifestyle. Pope Innocent IV, then residing in Lyon (France), was asked by the Carmelites to “clarify and correct certain doubts and mitigate certain severities” in the formula or Rule given by St. Albert of Jerusalem. In 1247, in his papal bull Quae honorem, Innocent, modified the Carmelite Rule. This is the oldest copy of the Rule that we have today.

Almost immediately, concerns were raised about the fervor of the life being lived by the Carmelites. The prior general, Nicholas of France, produced an account of his visitations, commonly known as The Fiery Arrow (1270), which is an indictment of the Order’s observance and a call to return to the desert. This struggle between active life and contemplative life continues within the Order to this day.

During the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, voices arose against the proliferating new moments of religious life known as “medicants.” The Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215 had forbid the founding of new orders and prospective founders were to adopt one of the existing rules. The founding of the Carmelites, because it occurred in the Holy Land, were allowed to continue until the Holy See could determine their legitimacy. The restrictions continued until they were removed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298. In 1326, Pope John XXII extended to the Carmelites all the privileges and exemptions of the Franciscans and Dominicans.