© 2023 Premonstratensian Canonry in Želiv. All rights reserved.
Designed & Developed by Jiří Škoda
The year was 1080. In the German town of Xanten, Saint Norbert was born into nobility—his father was Count Heribert of Gennep, and his mother Hedwig came from the noble family of Laon in France. Heribert was also a close relative of Emperor Henry IV. Norbert, then, was born into a life of privilege. As was customary at the time, one of the children in noble families was designated for a church career. By the age of nine, Norbert had already joined the collegiate chapter in Xanten—a clerical community of priests and laymen affiliated with a specific church.
Thanks to his noble background, Norbert was later sent for education and service to the court of the Archbishop of Cologne and eventually to the imperial court of Emperor Henry V (in 1110), where he served as court chaplain and advisor.
However, Henry V—infamously known for his opposition to the Church—played a significant role in diverting Norbert from a comfortable ecclesiastical career. The emperor resisted the Church’s prohibition of lay investiture, i.e., the appointment of clergy by secular rulers. This practice allowed rulers to secure the loyalty of their appointed clerics, effectively silencing the Church’s prophetic voice in society. In response, Pope Gregory VII and his successors launched what came to be known as the Gregorian Reform movement.
Witnessing these tensions between the Church and secular authority deeply affected Norbert. Around the year 1115, he underwent a profound spiritual conversion. He was ordained a priest and aligned himself with the reform movement. He left the imperial court, attempted—unsuccessfully—to reform the chapter in Xanten, and became an itinerant preacher.
During his travels through Germany and France, he gathered a group of followers. Through connections with prominent reformers such as Bishop Bartholomew of Laon, Norbert founded a monastery in the valley of Prémontré in 1121. On Christmas Day of that year, Norbert and his companions professed solemn vows—an event considered the formal founding of the Premonstratensian Order. The monastery was founded as a means of bringing Gospel values into society. Norbert did so not only through monastic foundations—many of which were established during his lifetime—but also through his influence on culture, education, and political dialogue. This would become even more evident later in his life when he served as Archbishop of Magdeburg.
Shortly after the founding of the monastery in Prémontré, new communities began springing up across the region—along the Dutch-German border, in Belgium, and in France. Norbert’s vision was to return to the roots of Christianity, which is why he is often depicted with a Bible or a Psalter. His deep desire was to carry the Gospel to all people, as Christ had commanded.
The Premonstratensians came to the Czech lands through the efforts of Bishop Henry Zdík of Olomouc. He traveled twice to the Holy Land and, during his second pilgrimage, encountered the Premonstratensians. Deeply moved by their way of life, he became instrumental in inviting them to Bohemia.
During Norbert’s lifetime, the Abbey of Steinfeld was founded. From there, the monastery at Strahov was established in 1143, followed a few years later by the Premonstratensian monastery in Želiv in 1149. Around the same time, a women’s monastery was also founded in Doksany.
The Želiv monastery likely owes its foundation to both Bishop Henry—whose epitaph is preserved in the monastic church—and Archbishop Daniel of Prague. Around 1148–1149, Daniel invited more brothers from Steinfeld (clearly a major spiritual center) to establish the monastery in Želiv. It’s worth noting that Želiv was not a remote wilderness; a settled population already lived in the area.
The brothers arrived under the leadership of a young monk named Gottschalk, who was about 31 years old. The Premonstratensian chronicler Jarloch—successor to the famed chronicler Vincent of Prague—recorded their journey in the Annals of Milevsko. According to Jarloch, the pilgrims reached Strahov on the feast of Saints Fabian and Sebastian (January 20). Their journey was not easy. In Mainz, they were meant to meet Archbishop Daniel, who left them horses—but these were later stolen, and the monks had to continue on foot. They finally arrived in Želiv in early February, having traveled through deep snowdrifts.
Once in Prague, the pilgrims learned that Želiv had already been home to a community of Benedictine monks from Sázava for ten years, under the leadership of Abbot Reginard. The Premonstratensians were expected to replace them—a surprise that did not sit well with the newcomers. Nonetheless, they continued on to Želiv. Life at the monastery in late winter was extremely difficult due to poor food storage and general scarcity. Jarloch writes that the Benedictines had taken all the equipment with them upon leaving. The new community received some short-term assistance from Bishop Zdík (who died shortly thereafter in 1150) and from local villagers from the surrounding area (known historically as Selau, Seelau, or Siloe).
Gottschalk proved to be a charismatic abbot, deeply respected even by the chronicler Jarloch. He soon stabilized the situation at Želiv and went on to establish a women’s community in Louňovice pod Blaníkem, formed by sisters from Dünnwald near Cologne (as was also the case with Doksany). At Gottschalk’s initiative, new communities were later founded in Kounice near Brno and in Pernegg, Austria.
Toward the end of Gottschalk’s life, preparations began for founding a monastery in Milevsko. Its first abbot was none other than Jarloch himself, a native of the Rhineland like Gottschalk.
Jarloch’s writings reflect great admiration for Gottschalk and his exemplary life. He viewed him as a foundational figure in a new era of Czech history. At Gottschalk’s funeral in Želiv, even the Archbishop of Prague was present—who, at the time, was building his summer residence in nearby Červená Řečice.