Hermits and cenobites living under a modified form of the Rule of Saint Romuald by whom they were founded at Camaldoli, Italy, c1012The object of the founder was to introduce into the West the eremitical life led by the Eastern monks and the Fathers of the Desert. For six centuries the order steadily increased as one community but in time it became divided into the five congregations of:

There are at the present date (1929) three congregations in the Camaldolese order: