Anselm

(c. 1033–1109)

   Archbishop, Saint and Theologian.

   Anselm was born in Aosta, Italy, but was educated at the monastery school at Bec, where he was taught by lanfranc. He joined the order and became Prior of the community in 1063. In 1078 he was elected Abbot of Bec and then, in 1093, he succeeded Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury. In attempting to impose the reforms of Pope Gregory VII on the Church in England, he became embroiled in various controversies with King William II. In 1098 he was forced into exile and journeyed to Rome to consult the Pope about his difficulties. While he was in Rome, he attended both the Council of Bari and the Vatican Council of 1099. On his return to England, he became involved in fresh conflict with the new King, Henry I, and he refused to consecrate the King’s Bishops. Again he went into exile until 1107 when a compromise was reached. Back in England he held a council to enforce the celibacy of the clergy; he also established a new see at Ely and consistently maintained the primacy of the See of Canterbury over that of York. Despite his significance in the history of Church–State relations in England, Anselm is primarily remembered as a theologian. He was the author of various works of philosophical theology including the Proslogion in which he formulated his famous ontological proof for the existence of God. His Cur Deus Homo is an important contribution to the theology of the atonement. In it he argued that Jesus’s death was an essential propitiation to the perfect justice and majesty of God. It was not, as had been argued by origen and Gregory of nyssa, the payment of a ransom to the devil. Anselm always maintained that he did not seek to understand in order to believe, but that unless he believed he would not understand. His maxim, fides quaerens intellectum (‘faith seeking understanding’), has become much used as a description of the Christian theological enterprise. It is not certain whether Anselm was ever formally canonised, but he has been venerated as a saint since the late Middle Ages. He was named a Doctor of the Church in 1720.

   R.W. Southern, Anselm (1990);

   Eadmer, Vita Anselmi, edited and translated by R.W. Southern (1962).