A monk who invented the ontological argument became archbishop twice exiled
Anselm of Canterbury, born around 1033 in Aosta, rose from Bec novice to Europe's foremost abbey leader, then archbishop from 1093 to 1109. He defended the Church against William II and Henry I during the Investiture Controversy and is credited with founding Scholasticism and the ontological argument.
After his mother's death, Anselm wandered Burgundy and France before entering Bec in 1059 at age 27. He became prior in 1063 and abbot in 1078, writing the Monologion and Proslogion while turning Bec into a leading center of learning. William Rufus blocked Canterbury's succession until a near-death illness in 1093 forced his nomination.
Anselm accepted only after demanding return of seized Church lands and recognition of Pope Urban II over Antipope Clement III. Consecrated on 4 December 1093 without the papal pallium, he was exiled twice—1097 to 1100 and 1105 to 1107—for resisting royal investiture. At the Council of Bari he helped convince Greek bishops to adopt the Roman Rite.
His satisfaction theory of atonement and ontological argument for God's existence earned posthumous fame; Clement XI declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1720. He asserted Canterbury's primacy over York and Welsh bishops, though Pope Paschal II later reversed those decisions. Anselm blended mystical devotion with rigorous philosophical dialogue, influencing centuries of medieval theology. The vocation came early and was blocked: at fifteen he tried to join a monastery, was refused because his father withheld consent, and fell ill—some think from sheer disappointment—before drifting into a carefree youth. His later clash with the crown turned on ritual, since from the mid-eighth century a metropolitan could not be consecrated without a woollen pallium from the pope, and William forbade Anselm's journey to Rome to fetch it. He is venerated as a saint with a feast day on 21 April.
Source: Anselm of Canterbury
