The Carmelite Order have their roots in a French colony of hermits that settled some time after the end of the First Crusade (1096-1099) on Mount Carmel, near Haifa in the Holy Land.

In 1210 the order was created and given their rules by the Patriach of Jerusalem, St Albert Avigadro. This became known as the Carmelite Rule of St Albert.

Life in the Carmelite Order was very aesthetic and the monks abstained from meat, fasted regularly and lived a lot of time in silence. Their strict rules were kept with hard punishments for those who broke them. The Carmelite Order was also very learned and were often found in University cities where they studied and taught.

The Carmelite Order came to Denmark in 1410 with the support of the King of the Kalmar Union, Eric of Pomerania. The Carmelite Order eventually had five monasteries in the country and a college founded in 1497 in Copenhagen. The college continued the Carmelite's tradition of education, and the monks taught Theology at the newly founded Copenhagen University.

The last prior of the college, Poul Helgesen was a controversial figure becoming involved in disputes with both King Christian II and the Protestant reformer Hans Tausen. He compared the reformer to King Herod and the latter of being a heretic.

The Carmelite Order suffered the same fate as the other orders after the Reformation and their property was confiscated. The monasteries of both Helsingør and Sæby have survived from this time. The Carmelite monastery at Helsingør is regarded as the best preserved medieval monastic building in all of Scandinavia.