Eadmer of Canterbury

Biographical Details:

  • Lived 1060-1124 A.D.

Biography:

Eadmer of Canterbury was an English monk, historian, and theologian who lived during a time of significant social and political change in England, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Born around 1060, Eadmer grew up in the aftermath of the conquest, which brought Norman rulers to power and created tensions within the Church with Norman bishops and abbots replacing many Anglo-Saxon clergy. This period of conflict between the crown and ecclesiastical authorities shaped Eadmer’s worldview and his later writings, which would focus on these struggles.

Eadmer is perhaps best known for his close relationship with Anselm of Canterbury, one of the most prominent theologians of the time. Anselm, originally from Italy, became Archbishop of Canterbury and was a staunch defender of the Church’s independence from royal interference. Eadmer joined Anselm’s household as a monk and developed a deep friendship with him, serving as his confidant and biographer. Eadmer’s Vita Sancti Anselmi (Life of Saint Anselm) remains one of the most important sources on Anselm’s life, chronicling his theological disputes and his confrontations with kings William II and Henry I over the rights of the Church. Through this work, Eadmer helped shape Anselm’s legacy, portraying him as a model of piety and ecclesiastical resistance to secular authority.

Eadmer’s own theological contributions were also significant, particularly his defense of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In his work De Conceptione sanctae Mariae, Eadmer argued that Mary, as the Mother of God, must have been conceived without original sin in order to be a pure vessel for Christ’s incarnation. Eadmer’s arguments aligned with popular Marian devotion and built upon longstanding theological principles such as the New Ark of the Covenant and the New Eve. His defense of this doctrine helped spread the idea in the Western Church, although it was not officially recognized until 1854.

Eadmer left behind a large body of writings, the most significant of which is his Historia novorum in Anglia (History of Recent Events in England), a work covering the years between 1066 and 1122. This history provides a detailed account of the Norman Conquest, the struggles between the Church and the monarchy, and the wider political developments of the time. Other important works by Eadmer include Vita Wilfridi, Vita Dunstani, Vita Oswaldi, De Similitudinibus Anselmi, De Corporali Visu Dei, and his theological defense of Marian doctrine, De Conceptione sanctae Mariae.

Eadmer died around 1124.

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Extant Writings:

  • Historia novorum in Anglia (History of Recent Events in England)
  • Vita Sancti Anselmi (Life of Saint Anselm)
  • De Conceptione sanctae Mariae
  • Vita Wilfridi
  • Vita Dunstani
  • Vita Oswaldi
  • De Similitudinibus Anselmi
  • De Corporali Visu Dei

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Quotes and Excerpts:

On Mary’s Immaculate Conception:

“If Jeremiah was sanctified in his mother’s womb because he was to be a prophet among the Gentiles, and if John, who was to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, who will dare to say that the one and only mercy seat of the whole world, the most sweet couch of the Son of God Almighty, was deprived of the illumination of the grace of the Holy Spirit from the first instant of her conception?” –De conceptione; PL 159, 305A; Thurston-Slater, p. 9.

On our Mother Mary:

“Lady, if your Son became our Brother through you, have you not become our Mother through him? For, when he was about to die on the Cross for us, he said to John, yes, to John, who contained us in his common human nature, “Behold your mother” (Jn 19:27).” –De excellentia 12; PL 159, 580B.

“Whatever judgment will be made in your regard depends totally on the verdict of your Brother and your Mother. So do not turn away the ear of your heart from their counsel. Your Judge -that is, your Brother- has taught you to fly to the aid of His Mother, and your Mother has advised you to take refuge in confidence beneath the protecting wings of her Son, and she has promised that she will be there for you, lest you be overburdened by his justice.” –Eadmer of Canterbury, De conceptione;PL I59, 3I SAC; Thurston-Slater, Pp. 4I-43

Mary, Queen of Heaven:

“Yes, Lady, whatever we may have understood or conceived in our minds or spoken with our mouths, it is insignificant and as nothing compared with what we owe you in fairness. For you were preordained in the mind of God, before every other creature, the most chaste among all women, so that you might give birth to God as true man, born of your flesh, and so that, having become the glorious Queen of Heaven, you might rule over all things… and prepare for a fallen world the entry into recovery and the prize of eternal life.” –Eadmer of Canterbury, De conceptione;PL I59, 3I SAC; Thurston-Slater, Pp. 4I-43

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