St. Norbert was born at Xanten near Cologne about the year 1080. As a young cleric he resided at the court of the archbishop of Cologne and then at the court of the emperor where he allowed himself to be influenced by the spirit of the world. But he was won back by grace; caught by a storm during a journey on horseback he made up his mind to take his clerical obligations seriously. After ordination to the priesthood he devoted himself to itinerant preaching. In 1120, on the advice of the bishop of Laon, he settled in the forest of Voix, not far from Soissons at place called Premontre, in order to found a community of regular Canons. In 1126 he was sent to what was then one of the outposts of Christendom, Magdeburg and was appointed archbishop. He died in 1134.