Life and Conversation of Anselm of Canterbury

The biography of Saint Anselm was written in Latin ( Vita et conversatione Anselmi Cantuariensis ) by his chaplain and secretary Eadmer (about 1055-1124) shortly after Anselm's death in 1109. Anselm had not only written a number of well-respected theological works, but he had also attempted to free his church from the interference of the English kings. In describing the exemplary life of Anselm, the text provided a role model for other monks to follow. Manuscripts such as this one would have been distributed to each monk to provide appropriate material for reading and contemplation. This particular copy of the biography was copied about a generation after it was originally composed, around the middle of the 1100s, probably at the Benedictine abbey of Saint Martin at Tournai (in modern-day Belgium). The decoration of the manuscript is executed in colored inks and makes considerable use of unpainted parchment, a technique commonly found in English manuscripts of the period.