Anselm of Bec (Aosta, 1033 - 21 April 1109)

A man of Piedmontese origin who became a Benedictine monk at the abbey of Bec-Hellouin in 1060. He was appointed prior in 1063 on the departure of his master, Lanfranc, who had been promoted to the role of Abbot of St Stephen in Caen (1063) by William the Conqueror. Anselm then ran the school of Bec under the authority of the abbot Herluin, and then succeeded him in the role of abbot in 1078. In 1093 he was chosen as Archbishop of Canterbury, following Lanfranc. As a vigorous defender of the independence of the church, Anselm of Bec found himself at odds with King William Rufus and spent several months in exile. He finally gained the confidence of King Henry I Beauclerc who, in 1108, entrusted to him the regency of the kingdom during a campaign in Normandy. Anselm was one of the most influential theologians of his time and many of his treatises and a large amount of his correspondence survive.

Bibliography :

- François Neveux. - La Normandie des ducs aux rois, Xe-XIIe s. - Rennes : Ouest-France, 1998.
- Jean Favier. - Dictionnaire de la France médiévale. - Paris : Fayard, 1993.