From author to authority: Anselm’s public reputation and the Council of Bari (1098)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109) was considered an authoritative learned writer across Latin Christendom in his own lifetime. This essay argues it was his triumph at the Council of Bari in 1098, where he delivered a full-length speech on the Procession of the Holy Spirit and was cited by the pope as an authority, which elevated him to such an unusual status for a living author. The proposition is advanced by three arguments. Setting out the historical context, the first explores how Anselm came to be charged with a major conciliar assignment. The second examines events before and during the council, and assesses his achievement in terms of medieval literary theory. The final section demonstrates how his new renown provided a readership in regions where his works had not previously penetrated. The evidence derives from contemporary remarks and early manuscripts, many of which have gone unobserved in Anselmian scholarship.