Anselm (c.1033-1109)

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Synopsis

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, b. in 1033, at Aosta in Piedmont; d. at Canterbury, April 21, 1109; the father of mediaeval scholasticism, and one of the most eminent English prelates. He belonged to a rich family of old Lombard nobility, but felt himself so strongly drawn towards a life of study and contemplation, that, in spite of his father’s protest, he entered the Monastery of Bec, in Normandy, where he studied under the tuition of his celebrated countryman, Lanfranc, and finally took holy orders. In 1063 he was chosen prior, and in 1078, abbot of Bec; and under his guidance and by his teaching the fame of the school of the place steadily increased. In 1093 he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury; and, though he was a very mild and meek man, he had adopted the Gregorian views of the relation between Church and State, and followed them out in practice with unswerving consistency. Strife soon broke out between him and the king, William Rufus, who exiled him in 1097. Under William’s successor, Henry I., he returned; but the strife soon broke out again. Once more he went into exile; and a reconciliation was not brought about until 1106, when the king renounced the right of investiture with ring and staff, and the archbishop consented to take the oath of allegiance for his feudal possessions.

In the history of theology Anselm stands as the father of orthodox scholasticism. He was called the second Augustine. Of the two theological tendencies at that time occupying the field, - the one more free and rational, represented by Berengarius; anti the other confining itself more closely to the tradition of the church, and represented by Lanfranc, - he chose the latter; and he defines the object of scholastical theology to be the logical development and dialectical demonstration of the doctrines of the church such as they were handed down through the Fathers. The dogmas of the church are to him identical with revelation itself; and their truth surpasses the conceptions of reason so far, that it seems to him to be mere vanity to doubt a dogma on account of its unintelligibility. Credo ut intelligam, non quaero intelligere ut credam, is the principle on which he proceeds; and after him it has become the principle of all orthodox theology. As a metaphysician he was a Realist; and one of his earliest works, De Fide Trinitatis, was an attack on the Nominalist Roscellin’s doctrine of the Holy Trinity. His two most celebrated works are Proslogium, written before 1078, and setting forth the ontological proof of the existence of God, and Cur Deus Homo, finished at Capua in 1098, and developing those views of atonement and satisfaction which still are held by orthodox divines. his Meditationes and Orationes are of an edifying and contemplative character rather than dialectical, but are often very impressive.

Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn, Vol. 1. Toronto, New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894. p.90.

Primary Sources

	Anselm's Basic Works (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)
	St Anselm, Basic Writings, 2nd edn. Open Court Publishing Company, 1962. Pbk. ISBN: 0875481094. pp.328.
	Edward S. Prout, Cur Deus Homo? Why God Became Man?, 2nd edn. London: The Religious Tract Society, [1886]. Hbk. pp.182.
	Anselm of Canterbury, The Major Works. Brian Davies & G.R. Evans, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pbk. ISBN: 0192825259. pp.542.
	Maxwell John Charlesworth, St Anselm's Proslogion. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. pp.vi + 196.
	Anselm of Canterbury, St. Anselm's Proslogion With a Reply on Behalf of the Fool. University of Notre Dame Press. Hbk. ISBN: 0268016968.
	E.R. Fairweather, A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham. Westminster John Knox Press, 1982. Pbk. ISBN: 0664244181. pp.457.
	Desmond P. Henry, The De Grammatico of St Anselm. University of Notre Dame Publications in Medieval Studies, 18. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1964.
	Eadmer, Life of St. Anselm. R. W. Southern, translator. Oxford University Press Reprints distributed by Sandpiper Books, 1972. Hbk. ISBN: 0198222254. pp.386.

Secondary Sources

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	Christopher Armstrong, St. Anselm and His Critics: Further Reflections on the Cur Deus Homo," Downside Review 86(285) (1968): 354-376.
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	Jasper Hopkins, A Companion to the Study of St. Anselm. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1972. Hbk. ISBN: 0816606579. pp.304.
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	Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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	Saint Anselm (Thomas Williams)
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