Premonstratensian order founded

1120

Norbert of Xanten, a reformed German nobleman, planted a community of white-robed canons in a lonely valley he called Premontre. Unlike the Cistercians, his men were priests first and would go out into the world to preach. The order spread across northern Europe within a decade, establishing some six hundred houses by the end of the century, particularly in the frontier dioceses of Germany and eastern Europe.