his successor. This increased his responsibilities; but he continued to make the spiritual oversight of the abbey his chief concern, and intrusted certain brethren with external duties as far as he thought it advisable.
In consequence of the abbey having possessions in England, he made several visits to that island, and was always received most hospitably. He procured there even the respect of the king (William the Conqueror); while, on the other hand, he stood in such relation to the ecclesiastical ruler of the West, that Gregory the seventh exempted the abbey from spiritual jurisdiction. A third journey to England introduced him into a wider sphere of activity. Hugh, count of Chester, one of William's barons, being attacked with a dangerous sickness, earnestly pressed the reluctant abbot to visit him; and therefore he determined to repair to England again. Very reluctantly he was chosen archbishop of Canterbury, the place having been vacant some years—i.e., since the death of Lanfranc. The English clergy were very anxious for this appointment, and brought him into the king's presence (William Rufus), who, sick of a dangerous disease, at once nominated Anselm archbishop. But the pious man foresaw difficulties and troubles in the new position. The king was arbitrary, and disposed to keep the church in subjection: the archbishop anxious to secure its freedom from worldly domination. In 1094 William rejected, as too small, a present of five hundred pounds from Anselm. The next year he refused permission to the archbishop to convene a national synod for the reformation of abuses. With great difficulty did Anselm obtain the recognition of Urban II. by William; and after several refusals, he got permission to go to Rome to consult the pope in person, on the means of remedying the evils of the church in England. He left the country in 1097. After his departure, the revenues and privileges of the see were seized by William, and all Anselm's acts invalidated. From Rome he went to a monastery in Campania, where he finished his treatise on the Incarnation of Deity (Cur Deus Homo). At the synod of Bari, in 1098, he defended the Latin doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit against the Greek church, with arguments which he afterwards published in his work on the subject. From this council he went to Rome, where he assisted at a synod which enacted strict regulations respecting lay investiture. Afterwards he set out for Lyons, where he was most kindly received by the archbishop. Here he was fully occupied with practical works of piety, as well as with the composition of treatises—"On the Conception of the Virgin," "On Original Sin," and a "Meditation on the Redemption of Man."
After the death of William Rufus, the way was open for him to return to England; and this step he resolved to take. Before he reached Clugny, a letter reached him from Henry I., expressing a desire to see him in England, and promising to follow his counsels. But when he was required to take the oath, and be reinvested by the king, he refused, pleading that he was bound by the decrees of the Roman synod not to do so. It was therefore agreed to apply to the pope, Pascal II., that he should dispense with those decrees relating to investiture by a layman. But the pope would not consent; and the king adhered to the royal prerogative. In this dilemma it was determined that Anselm should go in person to Rome, Henry sending ambassadors again. Accordingly, the archbishop went to Rome a second time in 1103, and found the pope firm in refusing to give the monarch the right of investiture. Thence Anselm departed for Lyons, and wrote to the king, asking him whether he would allow him to return to England on condition of abiding by the papal decision. As the royal answer was unfavourable, he stayed for some time at Lyons. At length the pope yielded so far as the oath of investiture was concerned; and the monarch on his part gave up investiture with the ring and crosier. Anselm now returned to England, and henceforward enjoyed the full confidence of the king, passing the remainder of his days in writing several of his works, and administering ecclesiastical discipline. He restored the rights of the see of Canterbury, which had fallen into neglect: while he insisted upon the papal acknowledgment of the English church's independence in himself, its head, whose exclusive right it was to be the pope's vicar in England. With regard to the reform of both clergy and laity—a subject that lay near his heart—he enacted important decrees in relation to it at the synod of Westminster (1102); but it was difficult to carry them into execution. Another object of his care was the reformation of monasteries, as he rightly thought that they should be examples of piety. Nor was the sphere of his activity as archbishop confined to England. It extended to Scotland, Ireland, and the smaller islands adjoining. His influence was felt on the continent, too, in manifold ways; for the freedom and purity of the church at large were the great aims of his pious solicitudes and efforts. His death took place on the 21st April, 1109, in his seventy-sixth year, and the sixteenth of his primacy: and he was buried in the cathedral at Canterbury beside Lanfranc.
There is no doubt that Anselm was possessed of the highest qualities of head and heart. While he was the man of his times, entering into all the leading questions belonging to the church, he also penetrated into the future. His understanding was clear, subtle, comprehensive, vigorous; and his piety disinterested. He had firmness and decision, tempered with moderation and wisdom. While the richness of his spiritual life flowed out in works of piety, in benevolent efforts to ameliorate body and soul, in instructing and guiding the monks and clergy over whom he presided, and in promoting the purity as well as the independence of the church; he had a metaphysical and original spirit, which worked into the depths of scientific theology with penetrating eye. Hence he is commonly considered the father of scholasticism, standing at the head of those subtle dialecticians, who, for several succeeding centuries, moulded the philosophy and theology of the West into systems pervaded by ingenious speculation, and by mental ability of a high order. Anselm reproduced ecclesiastical truth in the manner and spirit of Augustine, whom he resembled in metaphysical ability and constructive power. His works are numerous, embracing logic, as his "Dialogus de Grammatica," which shows an acquaintance with Aristotle; general principles of theology and philosophy united, "Dialogus de Veritate;" while others are occupied with speculative theology, pneumatology, the incarnation, redemption, free-will and its relation to grace, the divine foreknowledge and predestination, the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, the origin of evil, original sin, &c., &c.
Perhaps the ablest of his works is the "Monologium," on the existence and attributes of God; the doctrine of which was supplemented and developed in various other writings, especially the "Proslogion." The doctrine of the Trinity was unfolded in his treatise "De fide Trinitatis et de Incarnatione Verbi;" and the procession of the Holy Spirit is defended against the Greeks in "De Processione Spiritus Sancti." The treatise "Cur Deus Homo" is upon the incarnation. The great problem which Anselm endeavoured to solve was, the reconciliation of metaphysics and divinity. While he was a most devout believer in the theology of the church, he cautiously tried how far the harmony was to be established between the Godhead of Revelation and Reason. His famous philosophical axiom, the à priori proof of the being of God, was, "the idea of God in the mind of man is the one unanswerable evidence of the existence of God." This same thought suggested itself afterwards to the reflective minds of Des Cartes and Leibnitz; and is still the great problem of metaphysical theology. The fame of Anselm will always rest upon it.
Besides his scientific works, he left "Spiritual Meditations" (Meditationes); "Prayers" (Colloquia Cœlestia) addressed for the most part to God and Christ, but sometimes to the virgin and saints; and "Letters" (Epistolæ) divided into four books. A complete list of his writings comprises about thirty treatises.
The first edition of Anselm's works was published at Nürnberg in folio, 1491, reprinted there 1494. A much better edition was that of Gerberon, published at Paris in folio, 1675; second edition of the same 1721, Paris, folio. The best is that published at Venice, 1744, in 2 vols. folio. The completest modern work on Anselm is that of Professor Hasse, in 2 vols. 8vo., 1843-1852, the first being occupied with his life, the second with his doctrines. These editions of Gerberon contain the life of Anselm by his friend Eadmer, which, together with his letters, constitutes the materials of all subsequent accounts.—S. D.
ANSELM or ANSELME, a monk of the abbey of St. Remi of Rheims, was a writer of the eleventh century, of whose life nothing is now known. He is the author of a work entitled "Itinerarium Papæ Leonis," or, more properly, a history of the dedication of the church of St. Remi at Rheims. Anselm relates all that Leo did on his journey from Rome to Rheims to consecrate the church; and also the sittings of the council held in the
