Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Anselm left his native Italy as a young man and eventually entered the Benedictine monastery of Bec in Normandy, where his intellectual gifts and holiness led to his election as prior and later abbot. He became renowned across Europe for his careful, rigorous approach to theology, seeking always to understand by reason what was already held by faith rather than treating the two as opposed. His most famous work developed what has become known as the ontological argument, an attempt to demonstrate God's existence through logical reasoning alone, which continues to be studied and debated by philosophers today. Reluctantly made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, Anselm spent much of his tenure in conflict with English kings over the Church's independence from royal control, enduring two periods of exile for his principles. He is honored as a Doctor of the Church and the founder of Scholasticism.