Carta Caritatis (transl. Charter of Charity) is the constitution of the Cistercian Order. The document, approbated in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II, regulates relations among the Cistercian abbeys. The text was continually revised and adapted until 1155. In terms of canon law, the Carta Caritatis is a document of unprecedented significance, since it introduced the systematic regulations that made a group of monks at Cîteaux into the first religious order in Church history.[1] It is held in high esteem as a legal monument of great influence.
- ^ Schachenmayr, Alkuin (2020). "Conference Notes on Stephen Harding as the Sole Author of the Carta Caritatis: Did the Carta Found the Order?". Cistercian Studies Quarterly. 55 (4): 417–424. doi:10.25716/AMAD-85264.