In 1098, Robert and twenty-one of his monks left Molesme with the intention of never returning.
Renaud, the viscount of Beaune, gave this group a desolate valley in a deep forest; there they founded Cîteaux Abbey.
Stephen Harding and Alberic – two of Robert's monks from Molesme – were pivotal in founding the new house.
The archbishop of Lyons, being persuaded that they could not subsist there without  the endorsement of an influential churchman, wrote in their favour to Eudo, duke of Burgundy.
Eudo paid for the construction they had begun, helped the monks finance their operating expenses and gave them much land and cattle.
The bishop of Challons elevated the new monastery to the canonical status of an abbey.

In 1099, the monks of Molesme asked Robert to return and agreed to submit entirely to his interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict; the local bishop also pressured Robert to return.
He agreed and Molesme became a major center for the Benedictines under his tutelage.
Albéric was made successor abbot at Cîteaux, with Stephen Harding as prior.

Robert died on 17 April 1111.
Pope Honorius III canonized him in 1222.
His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church was at first observed on 17 April, later transferred to April 29, and finally combined with the feast of Alberic and Stephen Harding and is observed in our day on 26 January.

The Vie de saint Robert de Molesme was written by Guy, his immediate successor as abbot of Molesme.
In 1098, Robert and twenty-one of his monks left Molesme with the intention of never returning. Renaud, the viscount of Beaune, gave this group a desolate valley in a deep forest; there they founded Cîteaux Abbey. Stephen Harding and Alberic – two of Robert's monks from Molesme – were pivotal in founding the new house. The archbishop of Lyons, being persuaded that they could not subsist there without  the endorsement of an influential churchman, wrote in their favour to Eudo, duke of Burgundy. Eudo paid for the construction they had begun, helped the monks finance their operating expenses and gave them much land and cattle. The bishop of Challons elevated the new monastery to the canonical status of an abbey. 
In 1099, the monks of Molesme asked Robert to return and agreed to submit entirely to his interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict; the local bishop also pressured Robert to return. He agreed and Molesme became a major center for the Benedictines under his tutelage. Albéric was made successor abbot at Cîteaux, with Stephen Harding as prior. 
Robert died on 17 April 1111. Pope Honorius III canonized him in 1222. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church was at first observed on 17 April, later transferred to April 29, and finally combined with the feast of Alberic and Stephen Harding and is observed in our day on 26 January.
The Vie de saint Robert de Molesme was written by Guy, his immediate successor as abbot of Molesme.
Robert of Molesme