- Eadmer
Eadmer, or Edmer (c. 1060–c. 1124), was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of Saint Anselm.
Life
Eadmer was born of Anglo-Saxon parentage, shortly before the
Norman conquest of England in 1066. He became amonk in the Benedictinemonastery of Christ Church,Canterbury , where he made the acquaintance of Anselm, at that time visiting England asabbot of the Abbey of Bec. The intimacy was renewed when Anselm becamearchbishop of Canterbury in 1093; afterward Eadmer was not only Anselm's disciple, but also his friend and director, being formally appointed to this position byPope Urban II . In 1120 he was nominated to the bishopric of St. Andrews (Cell Rígmonaid), but as the Scots would not recognize the authority of the see of Canterbury he was never consecrated, and soon afterwards he resigned his claim to the bishopric. His death is generally assigned to the year 1124. Eadmer must also be credited as one of the first serious proponents of theCatholic doctrine of theImmaculate Conception of theBlessed Virgin Mary when he defended popular traditions in his "De Conceptione sanctae Mariae".Works
Eadmer left a large number of writings, the most important of which is his "Historia novorum", a work which deals mainly with the history of
England between 1066 and 1122. Although concerned principally with ecclesiastical affairs, scholars agree in regarding the "Historiae" as one of the ablest and most valuable writings of its kind. It was first edited byJohn Selden in 1623 and, with Eadmer's "Vita Anselmi", has been edited byMartin Rule for the "Rolls Series " (London, 1884). R. W. Southern re-edited "Vita Anselmi" in 1963 with a facing page translation, andGeoffrey Bosanquet translated the Rolls text of "Historia Novorum" in 1964. The standard work on Eadmer is Southern's "Saint Anselm and His Biographer".The "Vita Anselmi", written circa 1124, and first printed at Antwerp in 1551, is probably the best life of the saint. Less noteworthy are Eadmer's lives of
St Dunstan ,St Bregwine , archbishop of Canterbury, and St Oswald, archbishop of York; these are all printed inHenry Wharton 's "Anglia Sacra, part ii" (1691), where a list of Eadmer's writings will be found. The manuscripts of most of Eadmer's works are preserved in the library ofCorpus Christi College, Cambridge .References
*
Geoffrey Bosanquet , "Eadmer's History of Recent Events in England" (London, 1964)
*Martin Rule , "On Eadmer's Elaboration of the first four Books of "Historiae novorum" (1886)
*Philibert Ragey , "Eadmer" (Paris, 1892).
*R. W. Southern , "Saint Anselm and His Biographer" (Cambridge, 1963)
*1911External links
* [http://www.bartleby.com/211/0905.html Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Eadmer] from "
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature ", Volume I, 1907–21.
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224a.htm Eadmer] from theCatholic Encyclopedia
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