The Origin

Originally the Chartreux lived in the Middle East in the mountains of Syria, Persia and Turkey. At the time of the crusades the Chartreux found the way to Europe as souvenirs from the returning knights. Since then the provisional final home of the Chartreux is France. First reports of Chartreux are lead back to the 15th century, where the Chartreux counted as food and suppliers for fur.

The origin of its name is ambiguous: One theory says that Chartreux was named by the color a blue-gray wool Pile des Chartreux but another theory says that it was named by a Parisian Carthusian monastery in which territory a tribe of wild solid blue cats have been established.

The birth of the Chartreux breed struck in the early twenties of the last century, when the sisters Suzanne and Christine Léger devoted to breed the cats of the wilderness scheduled on breton island Belle-Ile-en-Mer.

As the breeding potential decreased dramatically after the Second World War, the French Chartreux was temporarily crossed with the British Shorthair. Collateral the few French Chartreux were still breed without mixing with other races, especially in France and the Benelux countries. Through the efforts of the President of the Club du Chat of the Chartreux, Jean Simonnet, who had represented the diversity of races Chartreux and British Shorthair in several publications, 1977 the Fifé admitted the Chartreux as an independent breed with its own standard.

Today only the Chartreux may call itself Kartäuser.