Anselm of Canterbury was an 11th-century Benedictine monk, theologian, and philosopher who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Born in Aosta, he later became the abbot of Bec in Normandy, where he established the monastery as a major center of European learning. He is widely recognized as a pioneer of Scholasticism and is famous for developing the ontological argument for God's existence. Throughout his ecclesiastical career, he defended church interests against English monarchs, which led to multiple periods of exile.