St. Robert of Newminster

St. Robert of Newminster (c. 1100 – 7 June 1159) was an English priest, born in Yorkshire and educated, according to tradition, at Paris. Drawn to a stricter life, he joined the reforming monks who left the Benedictine abbey of St. Mary's, York, to embrace Cistercian austerity, becoming part of the community that founded Fountains Abbey. In 1138 he was sent to lead a new foundation, Newminster Abbey in Northumberland, where he served as its first abbot.

Under his gentle but disciplined guidance Newminster flourished and sent out further daughter houses. He was noted for his personal austerity, his devotion to prayer, and his friendship with the hermit St. Godric of Finchale. Stories of miracles and of his humility circulated after his death, and he was venerated as a saint, one of the quiet builders of English Cistercian monasticism in its golden age.