biblical text itself. Anselm was responsible for the Glossa ordinaria for the Psalms, for
the epistles of Paul, and perhaps for the Fourth Gospel as well.
Equally important were Anselm’s collections of theological opinions (sententiae).
They ranged over the whole spectrum of Christian teaching, from God and Creation to
redemption and the sacraments, but focused on such current issues as the nature of
marriage and relations with Jews, who had been severely persecuted in the wake of the
First Crusade.
Anselm was one of the more successful scholars in addressing the need for a trained
and competent clergy, able to deal with the needs of the newly emerging society. Some of
the most distinguished theologians of the 12th century studied with him, including
Gilbert of Poitiers and William of Champeaux. However influential Anselm was as the
central figure of a school for teaching, he did not establish a school of thought
characterized by a common set of assumptions.
Mark Zier
[See also: BIBLE, CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF; GILBERT OF POITIERS;
GLOSSA ORDINARIA; SCHOLASTICISM; SENTENCE COLLECTIONS;
THEOLOGY; WILLIAM OF CHAMPEAUX]
Anselm of Laon. Sententie divine pagine and Sententie Anselmi, ed. Franz P.Bliemetzrieder. In
Anselms von Laon systematische Sentenzen. Münster: Aschendorff, 1919.
Bliemetzrieder, Franz P., ed. “Trente-trois pièces inédites des œuvres théologiques d’Anselme de
Laon.” Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 2(1930):54–79.
Lottin, Odon, ed. “Nouveaux fragments théologiques de l’école d’Anselme de Laon.” Recherches
de théologie ancienne et médiévale 11(1939):305–23; 12(1940):49–77; 13(1946): 202–21, 261–
81; 14(1947):5–31.
Bertola, Ermenegildo. “Le critiche di Abelardo ad Anselmo di Laon ed a Guglielmo di
Champeaux.” Rivista di filosofia neoscolastica 52(1960):495–522.
Cavallera, Ferdinand. “D’Anselme de Laon à Pierre Lombard.” Bulletin de littérature
ecclésiastique 41(1940):40–54, 102–14.
Colish, Marcia. “Another Look at the School of Laon.” Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire
du moyen âge 53(1986):7–22.
Flint, Valerie I.J. “The ‘School of Laon’: A Reconsideration.” Recherches de théologie ancienne et
médiévale 43(1976): 89–110.
Ghellinck, Joseph de. Le mouvement théologique du XIIe siècle. 2nd ed. Bruges: De Tempel, 1948.
Landgraf, Artur Michael. Introduction à l’histoire de la littérature théologique de la scolastique
naissante, ed. Albert-Marie Landry, trans. Louis-B.Geiger. Montreal: Institut d’Études
Médiévales, 1979.
Smalley, Beryl. The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.
Weisweiler, Heinrich. “Le recueil de sentences ‘Deus de cuius principio et fine tacetur’ et son
remaniement.” Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 5(1933):245–74.
ANTICHRIST
. Medieval eschatology held that just before the end of the world a great adversary would
arise, the Antichrist, who would initiate the most terrible persecution of all, tempting
even the saints themselves. Although the term “Antichrist” appears in the New Testament
The Encyclopedia 87