St. Anselm was born at or near Aosta in Northern Italy in the year 1033. In 1060 he became a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Bec in Normandy. He found at Bec a spiritual master and close friend in the brilliant Lanfranc who, like himself, was an Italian; was, in fact, largely due to Lanfranc and Anselm that Bec, which was already a good Religious House, became the foremost intellectual centre of the day.