Saint Anselm

Saint Anselm (d 1109) was born at Aosta in Piedmont about 1033. After devoting much of his youth to pleasurable pursuits he became a monk at the abbey of Bec in Normandy, where flourished one of the most celebrated schools in Europe. Anselm flourished under the tuition of the famed Lanfranc. He became abbot of the monastery in 1078, making it the greatest center of scholarship in Europe, whilst personally writing some much admired philosophical works. Much influenced by Augustine Anselm sought 'necessary reasons' for religious beliefs. In his Proslogion, (Addition), in which he attempted to use reason to explain belief, Anselm stated that the capacity of human beings to conceive of the existence of God was proof that God must exist.

The interests of his abbey sometimes took Anselm to England and he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by William II of England in 1093, but was later forced into exile. He is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of the middle ages.