Anselm was born in 1033 in Aosta, Alpine town in Kingdom of Burgundy (modern Valle d’Aosta, Italy), strategically located on mountain passes between Italy and France. His father Gundulf was Lombard nobleman of considerable property. His mother Ermenberga was devoutly religious, instilling deep piety in young Anselm.
As child, he was precociously religious, imagining God dwelling on mountaintops, dreaming of visiting God’s palace in clouds. At age fifteen, he desired entering monastery but was refused (possibly too young, possibly father opposed). The rejection devastated him. He turned to worldly pursuits, becoming what he later called “frivolous” — enjoying aristocratic life, rebelling against religious discipline.
His mother died when he was in early twenties. Relations with domineering father deteriorated. Around 1056, age 23, Anselm fled home, crossing Alps into Burgundy and France with single servant, living wandering scholar’s life for three years.
In 1059, age 26, he arrived at Bec Abbey in Normandy, recently founded (1034) Benedictine monastery rapidly gaining reputation for learning under Prior Lanfranc. Lanfranc (c.1005-1089) was brilliant Italian theologian who established Bec’s school. Anselm was immediately impressed by Lanfranc’s intellectual rigor and spiritual depth. In 1060, Anselm entered Bec as novice monk.
Under Lanfranc’s mentorship, Anselm flourished intellectually and spiritually. He studied liberal arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic), theology, Scripture, Church Fathers (especially Augustine). When Lanfranc became abbot of new monastery at Caen (1063), Anselm, only 30, succeeded him as prior of Bec — responsible for monastery’s daily administration and school’s direction.
As prior (1063-1078), Anselm transformed Bec into Europe’s leading intellectual center. Students came from across Europe. His teaching combined logical rigor with devotional warmth. He developed close friendships with students and fellow monks, writing numerous affectionate letters expressing deep spiritual bonds.
During this period, he wrote his first philosophical works. Monologion (1076) presented arguments for God’s existence and nature through dialectical reasoning. Proslogion (1077-78) contained his famous ontological argument for God’s existence — attempting to prove God from concept alone.
In 1078, Abbot Herluin died. Monks unanimously elected Anselm abbot. He reluctantly accepted, continuing intellectual work while managing monastery’s temporal affairs. He proved excellent administrator — fair, gentle, spiritually wise — though he preferred contemplation to management.
In 1093, Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury died. English King William II (William Rufus) kept archbishopric vacant, appropriating its revenues. When William fell seriously ill (1093), fearing death, he appointed Anselm archbishop to secure divine favor. Anselm, age 60, strongly resisted appointment. He loved Bec’s peaceful monastic life; Canterbury meant political entanglements. But under enormous pressure from king, English bishops, and Pope, he accepted.
His fears proved justified. William II recovered and immediately clashed with Anselm over investiture controversy — whether kings could appoint bishops and receive their homage before Church consecration. Anselm maintained spiritual authority (Pope) should invest bishops; William claimed temporal authority (king) controlled appointments in his realm. This wasn’t merely power struggle but fundamental question: Is Church independent or subordinate to state?
Anselm refused compromising Church’s independence. He attended Council of Bari (1098) and Council of Rome (1099), where Pope Urban II reaffirmed Church’s position. William refused allowing Anselm’s return to England. Anselm spent 1097-1100 in exile, welcomed by Italian monasteries and Pope.
William II died in hunting accident (1100). New king Henry I recalled Anselm (1100). But investiture controversy reignited. Henry I demanded homage from bishops; Anselm refused. He went into exile again (1103-1107), this time to France. Finally, compromise was reached (1107): king renounced investiture with spiritual symbols (ring and staff) but bishops rendered temporal homage for lands. Anselm returned to Canterbury (1107).
During exiles, he continued writing. Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man, 1094-98) explained atonement through satisfaction theory. De Concordia (On the Harmony of Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Grace with Free Will, 1108-09) addressed theological problems of freedom and grace.
He died April 21, 1109, age 76, on Wednesday of Holy Week, at Canterbury Cathedral. He was peacefully praying, surrounded by monks. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. Popular devotion developed immediately, but formal canonization came late (1494). He was declared Doctor of the Church (1720).
His legacy: pioneering rational theology, ontological argument still debated, satisfaction atonement theory dominating Western Christianity, model of intellectual monk balancing contemplation and administration, and defender of Church’s independence from state power.
