Life of Anselm
Eadmer of Canterburyc. 1100–1125
The life of Anselm by a Canterbury monk who shared his exile, in two books. It tells of his years at Bec, the writing of his books and his travels.
Eadmer was a monk of Canterbury who travelled with Anselm in his exile. For those years he writes as an eyewitness: he speaks of “our dwelling” when he describes the hilltop village in Italy where the Cur Deus Homo was finished. For the earlier years at Bec he reports what he was told, and says of one story that Anselm himself used to tell it.
The work is a saint’s life written by a devoted disciple, and it includes miracles. It is used here for the outline of Anselm’s career and for what it says about how the books came to be written.
Cited in
- about 1078 to 1098, estimated date