Anselm of Canterbury
St. Anselm of Canterbury, the father of Scholasticism, was born in the Piedmont c. 1033. The son of a Lombard noble, he received a classical education; when his mother died in 1056, he gave away his wealth and sought knowledge in the Christian tradition. In 1059, he entered the monastery at Bec and became a disciple of Lanfranc, whom he succeeded as abbot of Bec (1078) and as Archbishop of Canterbury (1093). While at Bec, Anselm wrote the Monologium and Proslogium, which contain his influential proofs of the existence of God. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he opposed lay investiture and was twice (1097-1100 and 1103-1107) exiled to Rome. The Synod of Westminster (1107) ruled that bishops and abbots would do homage to the king before being invested by the ranking cleric; the Synod was the model for the Concordat of Worms (1122), which settled the lay investiture issue in Europe. Anselm died at Canterbury in 1109, and evidence suggests that Pope Alexander III canonized him in 1163.
Karen Rae Keck
including the header and this copyright remain intact.