Anselm of Lucca
Catholic cardinal and saint
Feast: 18 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Anselm, born at Mantua about 1036, was the nephew of Pope Alexander II, who named him Bishop of Lucca in 1071. He refused to take investiture from Emperor Henry IV; when he later accepted it, he felt such remorse that he resigned and became a Cluniac Benedictine at Polirone near Mantua.
Pope Gregory VII ordered him back to his diocese. He died at Mantua on 18 March 1086.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A bishop who stood for the Church's freedom from the emperor's control.
Connected on this site
- Gregory VII Saint“Pope Gregory VII ordered him back to his diocese.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Anselm of Lucca
- Wikidata Q1040234 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Anselm of Lucca (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.