Anselm (1033-1109) was born in Aosta, but left when he wished to further his studies.
1
In his travels he met a man named Lanfranc whom encouraged him to enter the monastery, Anselm would later describe this meeting and advice as a pivotal moment in his life.
2
Rising through the ranks of the monastery he was made the prior at the
Abbey of Bec, and after a great progression of career within the Church he was asked to undertake the position of Archbishop of Canterbury.
3
Anselm did not wish to fulfil this role; many of his objections were based on his desire to follow a more academic and meditative lifestyle Anselm of Canterbury within the Church, rather than have to deal with affairs that were outside the realm of the Church.
4
Despite taking on the charge of archbishop
Anselm still made several important contributions to both the theology and politics of his time.
5
Anselm’s Key Works
The Proslogion (1077-78)
The Monologion (1075-76)
Cur Deus Homo (1095-98)
De Grammatico (1059-60)
The De Veritate (1080-86)
The De Libertate Arbitrii (1080-86)
The De Casu Diaboli (1080-86)
1 Southern, Richard W. 1992. St. Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Ibid.
3 Vaughn, Sally N. 1975. St Anselm of Canterbury: the philosopher -saint as politician. Journal of Medieval History 1
(3):279-305.
4 Ibid.
5 Cavendish, Richard. 2009. April 21 1109: Death of St Anselm. History Today 59 (4):12.
Revised August 2009

The De Concordia (1107-8)
Sourced: Southern 6
Whilst Anselm produced many influential works his
Proslogion otherwise known as the Discourse for the Existence of God, was written to show the existence of God but even more so show that the attributes discussed in Monologion could only be associated all at once with one entity and that this entity must exist.
7 The premise of the argument was that: man cannot conceive of a world without God, and nothing can be thought of that is greater in power than God… therefore if man can think of an entity with as much power as God has, it must exist.
8 Essentially, something that is of the imagination is conceivable, which leads to the idea that it can have one of two types of power: mediated or unmediated, then following on from this assuming God was only in the mind He would have mediated powers… however, because it is known that unmediated power is more vast, a being greater than this version of God can still be conceived; so using the fool’s own logic
God does exist.
9
This form of proof that Anselm utilises so cunningly is reductio ad absurdum , effectively proof by means of contradiction, something that Anselm has perfected in Proslogion.
10
During his life Anselm spent some time in exile due to a disagreement with the King of
England at the time (Henry I). He wrote to Pope Paschal about his exile, “I am an exile from my bishopric and despoiled of its possessions”.
11
Anselm was incredibly dedicated to his role despite his exile and the initial distaste the monks had for him 12 , and urged the Monks in the monastery at Canterbury to not be swayed by secular influence to lead them away from their religious devotion.
13 Eventually the monks warmed to him and came to respect his counsel, they began writing to him to ask his advice
6 Southern, Richard W. 1992. St. Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7 Ibid.
8 Anselm, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1033-1109. Proslogium; Monologium: An Appendix in Behalf of the
Fool by Gaunilo; And Cur Deus Homo . Translated by S. Norton Deane. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing
Company.
9 Matthews, Gareth B; Rudder Baker, Lynne. 2010. The Ontological Arguement Simplified. Analysis 70
(2):201-212.
10 Ibid.
11 338. To Pope Paschal. Anselm, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1033-1109. The Letters of Saint Anselm of
Canterbury . Translated by W. Frohlich: Cistercian Publications.
12 Vaughn, Sally N. 1975. St Anselm of Canterbury: the philosopher -saint as politician. Journal of Medieval History 1
(3):279-305.
13 387. To Several English Bishops. Anselm, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1033-1109. The Letters of Saint
Anselm of Canterbury . Translated by W. Frohlich: Cistercian Publications.

on all manner of things to which Anselm replied in a timely manner.
14
After writing to Pope
Paschal several times to attempt reconciliation with King Henry I Anselm tried to resign his post as Archbishop, yet he was unsuccessful.
15
Anselm’s exile was eventually rescinded and he died in his bishopric of Canterbury.
16
14 Ibid.
15 Cavendish, Richard. 2009. April 21 1109: Death of St Anselm. History Today 59 (4):12.
16 Southern, Richard W. 1992. St. Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.