Who is Saint Anselm?

A lot of people have been asking me recently, "Who was Saint Anselm?" Here's the entry for St. Anselm, (Feast day: April 21) from Fr. Richard McBrien's book: Lives of the Saints.


Anselm of Canterbury, bishop and Doctor of the Church

Anselm (1033-1109), a major theologian and archbishop of Canterbury, gave the Church the most enduring definition of theology, "faith seeking understanding." Born at Aosta in Lombardy, he spent his early childhood in Burgundy, France with his mother's family. Because of the reputation of Lanfranc, abbot of Bec in Normandy, Anselm moved to Normandy and, after much hesitation, became a monk at Bec ca. 1060. He studied in depth the writings of Augustine and wrote several major works, including the Proslogion (Gk, "allocution"), in which he presented his famous argument for the existence of God (as an idea greater than which no other idea can be conceived). In 1078 he was elected abbot, keeping all the while in close contact with his mentor Lanfranc, who had become archbishop of Canterbury. Upon Lanfranc's death in 1089, Anselm was the clear choice of the clergy to succeed to the office. But King William II resisted and kept the see open for four years (and kept its revenues for himself as well). Only when the king seemed sick unto death did he relent and approve the appointment. But the king survived, and the two men found themselves constantly at loggerheads over papal jurisdiction, lay investiture, and the primacy of the spiritual over the temporal.
When Anselm steadfastly refused to support the antipope against Urban II, William exiled him in 1097. Anselm spent some time at first at Cluny and then at Lyons. He offered his resignation to the pope, but the pope instead threatened the king with excommunication--a threat that became moot upon the king's sudden death in 1100. It was in exile that Anselm wrote his famous work on the Incarnation, Cur Deus Homo? (Lat., "Why God Became Man"), which described Christ's death on the cross as an act of satisfaction, returning to God the honor stolen by human sin. He also took a leading role at the Council of Bari (10988) in defense of the double procession of the Holy Spirit ("from the Father and the Son"; Lat. Filioque) against the Greeks ("from the Father through the Son"). At a council in Rome soon thereafter, Anselm spoke strongly against the interference of temporal rulers in the investiture of bishops and abbots.
Anselm returned to England in 1100 with the accession of Henry I, but he was exiled again in 1103 over the very same investiture issue. A compromise was reached in 1106, and Anselm was allowed to return to England yet again. He remained there for the rest of his life, enjoying such an excellent relationship with the king that the king appointed him guardian of his son and viceroy of the whole kingdom while he, the king, was away in Normandy. As bishop, Anselm insisted on a strict enforcement of clerical celibacy, and he strengthened the primatial claims of the see of Canterbury, especially with relation to York. Anselm died on April 21, 1109, but his cult was slow to develop and, in any case, was destined to be overshadowed by Thomas Becket's. There is no formal record of his canonization, but a late twelfth-century Canterbury calendar lists two feast days, one for his death and one for the transfer of his remains. In 1734 he was named a Doctor of the Church. His feast is on the General Roman Calendar and is also celebrated by the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.