Anselm of Canterbury

Anselm was born in 1033 at Aosta in northern Italy. As a young man he left home and came to the abbey of Bec in Normandy, where he later became abbot and made it one of the most renowned centres of learning in Europe. In 1093 he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, and his defence of the independence of the Church brought him into conflict with two English kings and twice into exile. His motto was 'faith seeking understanding': he tried to set out the content of faith by pure rational argument, and is called the father of scholasticism.