The convent of Discalced Carmelite Nuns at the Church of St Joseph in the Lesser Town of Prague was the first and the only female cloister of the Carmelite Order in the Czech lands. It was founded in 1656 in the devotional atmosphere of the reformation after the Battle of White Mountain with the initiative of the imperial court in Vienna. The convent survived its dissolution, ordered in 1782 by a decree of Emperor Joseph II, in exile in Pohled. In 1792, the Carmelites returned to Prague to the convent of St Benedict at Hradčany, whose activities were terminated by the onset of the Communist regime in 1950. The manuscript collection contains 122 extant literary manuscripts of the former Prague convent of Discalced Carmelite Nuns, most of which come from the 17th and 18th century. The contents of the manuscripts reflect the teachings of the founder of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, St Teresa of Avila, as well as of the first prioress of the Prague Carmel, Mary Electa of Jesus, the latter of whom fully identified with the teaching of the patroness of the reformed order. This teaching focuses the activities of their successors on deep contemplation, enabled by the strict enclosure of the religious community.