Abbot Anselm
Anselm of Gembloux (d. 22 February 1136 CE) was a
Benedictine
monk and later abbot of Gembloux Abbey, located in present-day
Belgium. He succeeded Sigebert of Gembloux as abbot in 1115 CE
and continued Sigebert’s Chronica Monasterii Gemblacensis, extending it
from 1112 to 1136 CE. His continuation preserves the universal chronicle
tradition of his predecessor, emphasizing both local ecclesiastical
developments and broader European and Near Eastern events.
Before his election as abbot, Anselm is recorded as having served as
scholaster (schoolmaster) at Hautvilliers and later at
Lagny, both prominent Benedictine centers in northern
France. After his return to Gembloux, he appears to have remained there
for the rest of his life. There is no evidence that he ever traveled to
the Holy Land or elsewhere in
Outremer. His chronicle’s detailed
awareness of events in the Latin East—such as Crusader campaigns,
earthquakes, and the shifting balance between the
Principality of Antioch and Muslim
principalities like Aleppo—suggests reliance on the international
monastic correspondence networks of the early twelfth century. Such
information likely reached him through letters, monastic travelers, and
the exchange of historical notices circulating among Benedictine
scriptoria in France, Flanders, and the Empire.
As abbot, Anselm was noted for his administrative skill and attention to
infrastructure. He repaired and enlarged the monastic buildings, rebuilt
the church at Mont-Saint-Guibert, and in 1123 CE
secured a charter of liberties for the village from Godfrey II,
Count of Louvain. His continuation of the chronicle reflects not only an
interest in universal history but also the assertion of Gembloux’s role
within the intellectual life of the Benedictine world. Written in Latin
in a clear, scholastic style, it continues the concise annalistic format
of Sigebert while adding moral commentary and reflection typical of
early twelfth-century historiography.
Anselm’s death in 1136 CE closed a half-century of continuous historical
record-keeping at Gembloux, linking the work of Sigebert with later
chronicles of the Low Countries. His continuation remains an important
witness to the transmission of knowledge from northern Europe to the
Latin East in the age of the Crusades. Abbot Anselm's Continuatio of Chronica Monasterii Gemblacensis was
published by Bethmann (1844) in Monumenta Germaniae Historica.