Anselm of Havelberg (c. 1100 – 1158) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

, and a secular and religious ambassador to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. He was a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

, a defender of his order and a critic of the

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

life of his time, and a theorist of Christian history. According to

Friedrich Heer Friedrich Heer (10 April 191618 September 1983) was an Austrian historian born in Vienna. Early life Heer received a PhD at the University of Vienna in 1938. Even as a student, he came into conflict with pan-German historians as a staunch oppone ...

, "the peculiar course of Anselm's life made this much-travelled man the theologian of development, of progress, of the right of novelty in the Church".

Life

Anselm's birthplace is uncertain. He was a pupil of

Norbert of Xanten Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem (c. 1075 – 6 June 1134) (Xanten-Magdeburg), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a bishop of the Catholic Church, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint. Norbert was can ...

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

, and then was appointed to the

Bishopric of Havelberg The Bishopric of Havelberg (german: Bistum Havelberg) was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I of Germany in 946, from 968 a suffragan to the Archbishops of Magedeburg. A Prince-bishopric (''Hochstift'') from 1151, Havelberg as a res ...

in the

Northern March The Northern March or North March (german: Nordmark) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and ...

. Because

Havelberg Havelberg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a populati ...

was then controlled by the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...

, Anselm's provisional seat was in

Jerichow Jerichow () is a town on the east side of the river Elbe, in the District of Jerichower Land, of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. With about , the municipality of Jerichow is one of the largest municipalities in area size in Germany. Geog ...

. He served as

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

and overall commander of the 1147

Wendish Crusade The Wendish Crusade (german: Wendenkreuzzug) was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades and a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Sl ...

. After Havelberg was recovered by the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

during the campaign, cathedral construction was begun. Anselm was sent by

Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before ...

, to Constantinople in 1136. in the hope of a Byzantine alliance. He held theological discussions with

Nicetas of Nicomedia Nicetas was a twelfth-century Archbishop of Nicomedia. He is noted for having said that the Church of Rome "has separated herself from us by her own deeds when through pride she assumed a monarchy which does not belong to her office." He also part ...

, an account of which he wrote later as his Dialogues, at the request of

Pope Eugenius III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He w ...

. His account tended to play down the theological differences, including the

filioque clause ( ; ) is a Latin term ("and from the Son") added to the original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly known as the Nicene Creed), and which has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is a term ...

,
-> but was more stark on the political issues. A later encounter with Basil of Achrida in 1154 proved fruitless. He lived in a time where there was a growth in the diversity of religious orders, in his first book the ''Dialogues'' (c. 1149), unlike those who were scandalized by the novelty of these new orders, he saw these orders as part of God's plan for the renewal of the church. In his ''Dialogues'', he mentions "They devise for themselves a new ayof psalmody; they establish new ways of abstinence and measures of food; and follow neither the monks who fight under the rule of

Benedict Benedict may refer to: People Names *Benedict (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Benedict (surname), including a list of people with the surname Religious figures * Pope Benedict I (died 579), head of the Catholic Chu ...

nor

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

". Anselm also served as

Archbishop of Ravenna This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia.Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Works

Anselm's works include ''De ordine canonicorum regularium'', ''Apologeticum pro ordine canonicorum regularium'', and the three ''Dialogi'' (Greek title ''Antikeimenon''Online tex

), in the ''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...

''.

Notes

References

*''Dialogues/Anselme de Havelberg'' (1966, Paris: Les editions du Cerf) *Carol Neel, '' Philip of Harvengt and Anselm of Havelberg: The Premonstratensian Vision of Time'', Church History, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Dec., 1993), pp. 483–493 *Jay T. Lees (1998) ''Anselm of Havelberg: deeds into words in the twelfth century'' *Sebastian Sigler (2005), ''Anselm von Havelberg: Beiträge zum Lebensbild eines Politikers, Theologen und königlichen Gesandten im 12. Jahrhundert''

External links

http://www.sources-chretiennes.mom.fr/

Katholische Kirche zwischen Prignitz und Havelland

PDF
Anselm von Havelberg — Diplomat, Bischof, Theologe {{DEFAULTSORT:Anselm of Havelberg 1100s births 1158 deaths 12th-century German Roman Catholic bishops Premonstratensians People of the Northern Crusades Christians of the Wendish Crusade Diplomats of the Holy See Archbishops of Ravenna 12th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Ambassadors to the Byzantine Empire