Anselm of Canterbury

Born in Aosta around 1033, Anselm joined the Benedictine monastery at Bec in Normandy, where he began writing dialogues that merged mystical devotion with rigorous rational inquiry. His philosophical method would later earn him recognition as a founder of Scholasticism, though that credit came long after his death. In 1093 he became Archbishop of Canterbury and immediately collided with the English crown over church authority during the Investiture Controversy. He was exiled twice - from 1097 to 1100 under William II and again from 1105 to 1107 under Henry I - and while abroad helped bring Greek Catholic bishops in southern Italy into the Roman fold at the Council of Bari. He spent his final years asserting Canterbury's supremacy over York and Wales, victories that Pope Paschal II quietly undid after Anselm died in 1109. Canonized as a saint, he was named a Doctor of the Church in 1720.