The present paper investigates Anselm’s position regarding the use of the civil power, especially in the period between his nomination for Archbishop of Canterbury and the reconciliation with Henry I based on some of his Letters. Three points are articulated: 1. The configuration of the historical and juridical, the Cluniac Reform and the Papal Revolution. 2. The apprehension of Anselm conceming issue the justification of the power: insistently reaffirms his fidelity to the apostolic authority, …
Read moreThe present paper investigates Anselm’s position regarding the use of the civil power, especially in the period between his nomination for Archbishop of Canterbury and the reconciliation with Henry I based on some of his Letters. Three points are articulated: 1. The configuration of the historical and juridical, the Cluniac Reform and the Papal Revolution. 2. The apprehension of Anselm conceming issue the justification of the power: insistently reaffirms his fidelity to the apostolic authority, but it also recognises certain legitimacy out of the ecclesiastical domain. In the continuity of Gregory VII, it would be impossible to ignore the distinction between the two powers. However, the polarisation of the spiritual power above all demands the reason, not the fideism. That is why Anselm could not have a negative or secular view of the constituted real determination and source of meaning which he gave to the civil power. 3. Relationship between theology and politics: the separation, concurrence, and interaction of the spiritual and secular jurisdictions were the true source of Anselm’s conception of power. The essay concludes with the positive implications of Anselm’s notion of the power.