The founders were Antoniette d'Orléans-Longueville, assisted by the Capuchin Joseph Le Clerc du Tremblay.
After her profession she was commanded by the Pope to act as coadjutrix to the abbess of Fontevrault, and assist her in reforming her convent.
In 1614 Antoinette founded and built a new convent at Poitiers, dedicated to Our Lady of Calvary, which became the cradle of the congregation.
By permission of the Pope, she left Fontevrault to enter this monastery, and took with her those nuns who wished to follow the Benedictine rule in all its strictness.
The abbess of Fontevrault at first consented to this, but afterwards objected, and it was not until Antoinette's death that Tremblay established the new congregation, gave them constitutions, and got Pope Gregory XV to issue a Bull erecting them into an independent congregation under the title of Our Lady of Calvary.