Anselm of Canterbury

Anselm of Canterbury

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Anselm of Canterbury (1033 – 21 April 1109) was an Italian Benedictine monk, philosopher, and prelate of the Catholic Church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. He is best known for his ontological argument for the existence of God and his contributions to scholasticism.

Early Life and Education

Anselm was born in 1033 in Aosta, a town in the Kingdom of Burgundy, which is now part of modern-day Italy. He was the son of a nobleman, Gundulf, and his wife Ermenberga. Anselm's early education was under the tutelage of the Benedictine monks in Aosta, where he developed a strong foundation in the liberal arts.

At the age of 23, Anselm left home and traveled to France, eventually joining the Benedictine abbey of Bec in Normandy in 1060. There, he studied under the renowned scholar Lanfranc, who would later become the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Career and Works

Anselm became the prior of Bec in 1063 and was elected abbot in 1078. During his time at Bec, he wrote several important philosophical and theological works, including Monologion and Proslogion. In these works, Anselm developed his famous ontological argument, which posits that God, being "that than which nothing greater can be conceived," must exist in reality because existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind alone.

In 1093, Anselm was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeding Lanfranc. His tenure was marked by conflicts with the English kings William II and Henry I over the rights and privileges of the Church, particularly concerning the investiture controversy.

Philosophical Contributions

Anselm is often regarded as the father of scholasticism, a method of critical thought which dominated medieval European universities. His ontological argument has been both influential and controversial, sparking debates among philosophers and theologians for centuries.

Anselm also wrote on the nature of the atonement in his work Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man"), where he proposed the satisfaction theory of atonement, arguing that Christ's death was necessary to satisfy the justice of God.

Legacy

Anselm was canonized as a saint in 1494 by Pope Alexander VI, and he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI. His feast day is celebrated on April 21.

Anselm's influence extends beyond theology into philosophy, where his ideas have been discussed and debated by figures such as René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

See Also

• Scholasticism
• Ontological argument
• Archbishop of Canterbury

References

• Southern, R. W. Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
• Davies, Brian, and Evans, G. R. Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works. Oxford University Press, 1998.

External Links

• Anselm of Canterbury at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy