CHARTREUSE. A celebrated liqueur, green and yellow, made at La Grande Chartreuse, the old Carthusian monastery near Grenoble. The Carthusian order of monks was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084. In 1607 the Marechal d'Estrees gave to the Carthusian Fathers the recipe of the elixir. It was supposed to be concocted from a distillation of herbs, culled on the slopes of the Dauphine valley, and, the finest brandy. In 1757 Brother Gerome Maubec, "a very clever apothecary," perfected the formula, the secret of which, however, was never divulged nor discovered by analysis. In the Revolution of 1793 the Car thusians were despoiled of their property but they retained the secrecy of their formula. In 1816 they were allowed to return to their beloved monastery. In 188o the Carthusian fathers were obliged to protect their liqueur by means of trade-marks. In 1901, having declined to accept indulgence from the Decree for the expulsion of the Religious Orders from France, they locked them selves in their monastery; but, in consequence of the law against Associations, they were expelled. Their distillery at Fourvoire was sold by auction, including their trade-mark. They emigrated to Farneta, near Lucca, in Italy, and transferred their distillery to Tarragona in Spain.
Their new position involved them in a number of lawsuits in France and elsewhere, the object being to show that they were still the owners in foreign countries of the trade-marks of which they had been deprived in France, and that they still retained the secret formula of their liqueur with the right to use it anywhere. The liqueur that they now make is sold under the name of Liqueur des Peres Chartreux. It is supposed to be identical with the old liqueur but connoisseurs profess to be able to detect a difference due, probably, to the herbs being gathered in an alien soil. A movement to secure the return of the Carthusians to their old monastery is developing; should it succeed the original Chartreuse would be revived. Meanwhile the old stocks are diminishing year by year. The name of the printer, Alier, on the label is the only evidence of authenticity. (J. V. M.)