Anselm of Aosta
(1033-1109) Italy - U.K.
Saint - bishop & doctor - Feast day - April 21
 Anselm was born in the city of Aosta in the Kingdom of Burgundy (currently the capital of Aosta Valley region of northern Italy). His family was accounted noble, and owned considerable property. Gundulph, his father, was by birth a Lombard, and seems to have been a man of harsh and violent temper. His mother, Ermenberga, was a prudent and virtuous woman, who gave the young Anselm careful religious training.
St Anselm had a passion for writing love letters to men. To Gondulph (not his father...), "soul most beloved of my soul," he declares "withersoever thou goest, my love follows thee; and wherever I remain, my longing embraces thee." Medieval epistolary passion finds its epitome in his letters to William, "My most dearly beloved" (mi charissime) appearing more than a dozen times in one letter.
Supposedly Anselm was trying to convert William to the Christian faith, but his clearer desire was for William to come love with him at the Abbey of Bec: "delay not thy so great good, and fulfil my yearning for thee, that I may have thee for my companion in following Christ." Such subconscious subterfuge is permissible when the goal is to strive together on the road to the heavenly Jerusalem.
In the late Middle Ages the attempt to use philosophy to explain Christian faith was called scholasticism. The founder of scholasticism was St. Anselm, a man who combined the careers of philosopher, theologian, monk, and archbishop.
Anselm was born at Aosta, Italy, in about 1033. In his youth he resisted family pressure to enter politics and obtained a classical education instead. In 1057 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Bec, in northwestern France. In 1078 he became the abbot there. As Anselm's abilities and great learning became known, Bec became one of the leading schools of philosophy and theology.
 While on inspection tours of monasteries in England, Anselm had been befriended by King William I. In 1093 William I's son and successor, William II Rufus, appointed Anselm archbishop of Canterbury. His term of office was an unhappy one, for he immediately became involved in one of the major conflicts of the time - the investiture controversy.
At issue was whether a king had the right to invest a bishop with the symbols of his office. On this issue Anselm resisted both William II and his successor, Henry I. The matter was finally resolved in Anselm's favor by the Westminster Agreement of 1107. He lived only two more years, dying on April 21, 1109.
Anselm is remembered principally as one of the great theologians in the history of the Roman Catholic church. His main works--the 'Monologium' (Monologue), the 'Proslogium' (Addition), and the 'Cur Deus Homo?' (Why Did God Become Man?)--were outstanding attempts to use reason to explain belief. He was canonized a saint by Pope Alexander VI in 1492 and proclaimed a doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720.
Anselm as a Gay Saint?
by Paul Halsall et al.
 I make no claims about Anselm's sexual practices, but I am sure he was what we would now call gay.
Anselm had emotional relationships with Lanfranc and then a succession of his own pupils. He would address his letters to his "beloved lover" [dilecto dilitori]. Here is a sample:
"Wherever you go my love follows you, and wherever I remain my desire embraces you...How then could I forget you? He who is imprisoned on my heart like a seal on wax- how could he be removed from my memory? Without saying a word I know that you love me, and without my saying a word, you know that I love you."
"Beloved lover ... sweet to me, sweetest friend, are the gifts of your sweetness, but hey cannot begin to console my desolate heart for its want of your love ... But you have gained from our very separation the company of someone else, whom you love no less - or even more - than me; while I have lost you, and there is no one to take you rplace. You are thus enjoying your consolation, while nothing is left to me but heartbreak."
Or again:
"Brother Anselm to Dom Gilbert, brother, friend, beloved lover... Sweet to me, sweetest friend, are the gifts of your sweetness, but they cannot begin to console my desolate heart for its want of your Love."
Saint Anselm's letters to brother monks are full of expressions of the same ardent affection. We have several examples:
"Souls well-beloved of my soul," he wrote to two near relatives whom he wished to draw to Bec, " my eyes ardently desire to behold you; my arms expand to embrace you; my lips sigh for your kisses; all the life that remains to me ts consumed with waiting for you. I hope in praying, and I pray in hoping-come and taste how gracious the Lord is - you cannot fully know it while you find sweetness in the world."
And also:
"- Far from the eyes, far from the heart, - say the vulgar. Believe nothing of it; if it was so, the farther you were distant from me the cooler my love for you would be; whilst on the contrary, the less I can enjoy your presence, the more the desire of that pleasure burns in the soul of your friend."
 "To Gondulf, Anselm
I put no other or longer salutations at the head of my letter, because I can say nothing more to him whom I love. All who know Gondulph and Anselm know well what this means, and how much love is understood in these two names."
... " How could I forget thee ? Can a man forget one who is placed like a seal upon his heart? In thy silence I know that thou lovest me; and thou also, when I say nothing, thou knowest that I love thee.
Not only have I no doubt of thee, but I answer for thee that thou art sure of me. What can my letter tell thee that thou knowest not already, thou who art my second soul? Go into the secret place of thy heart, look there at thy love for me, and thou shalt see minefor thee."
... "Thou knewest how much I love thee, but I knew it not. He who has separated us has alone instructed me how dear to me thou wert. No, I knew not before the experience of thy absence how sweet it was to have thee, how bitter to have thee not. Thou hast another friend whom thou hast loved as much or more than me to console thee, but I have no longer thee l - theel thee l thou understandest? and nothing to replace thee. Those who rejoice in the possession of thee may perhaps be offended by what I say. Ah I let them content thernselves with their joy, and permit me to weep for him whom I ever love."
It is worth mentioning also, that St. Anselm was one of the first saints to address Jesus as mother, a practice and spirituality later taken up by Julian of Norwich.
There have been long running arguments among academics about Anslem's sexuality. On one side, John Boswell was quite explicit in arguing for this; on the other Sir. Richard Southern and Glenn Olsen reject such an interpretation. Brian McGuire is probably the most important scholar working on Anselm these days. For many years, well aware of the possible anachronism of calling any pre-modern individual "gay" or "homosexual", McGuire was not pinned down on the issue. Recently, however, he has argued that it is appropriate to see Anselm as "homosexual", if we are to use such terms.
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