Anselm was born high up in the Italian Alps, in the old Roman town of Piedmont. His father, a famous and wealthy nobleman, expected him to join the ranks. But as soon as he was old enough, Anselm left home to travel throughout Europe as a wandering scholar and beggar. In Normandy, Benedictine monks took him in and he joined their monastery at Bec, where he remained. He studied philosophy and theology and soon became the favorite pupil of Lanfranc, who when he became archbishop of Canterbury chose Anselm as the new abbot. When Lanfranc died, in 1093, he recommended that his best former student succeed him, and so Anselm became archbishop of Canterbury.
