Abstract

This admirable study, the mature fruit of some twenty-five years’ meticulous reflection upon records, critical editions and their manuscript sources, decisively illuminates the human personality and life of an enigmatic genius of the late eleventh century, the most original intellect produced in the monastic life and one of the formative forces of the Anglo-Norman Church. Its distinctive approach is through Anselm’s intimate relationship with Eadmer, his Saxon biographer and monastic companion for the sixteen years he was Archbishop of Canterbury; but its details include an analysis of the effect upon the Church of the Norman conquest of Britain, the first controversies between the Canterbury archbishops and the conquering kings, the mid-eleventh century burgeoning of speculative and spiritual writing and the gradual change of monastic life.