- Anselm IV (Archbishop of Milan)
Anselm IV (also "Anselm of Buis", Italian: "Anselmo da Bovisio") was the
Archbishop of Milan from3 November 1097 to his death on30 September 1101 . He was a close friend ofPope Urban II and prominent in theCrusade of 1101 , whose Lombard contingent he led and on which he died.According to
Galvano Flamma , he was born inBovisio , the son of a "valvassor ". He entered the monastery of S. Lorenzo and was then elected, in 1097,bishop of Brescia .Milan was threatening to fall into a schism again when he was elected to bring peace. He had never, however, takenholy orders before his consacration on 3 November.Under were corrected the irregularities of the past decades at a synod held from 5 –
7 April 1098 . He affirmed the excommunication of imperial-appointed bishops and condemnedsimony . He accepted the acts of Anselm III, but not those of Tedald.He was recruited by
Pope Paschal II , Urban's successor, to lead the crusade being proclaimed in response to the success of theFirst Crusade . He preached the crusade throughoutLombardy , where there had been little enthusiasm for the first one, but where his influence sparked a wave of zeal: crowds greeted him chanting "Ultreja! Ultreja!" On15 July 1100 , he celebrated the anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem in Milan. He appointed oneGrossolano , thenbishop of Savona , to act as hisvicar and, on13 September , with bishops Guy of Tortona, William of Pavia, and probably Aldo of Piacenza, he left with a company reported at the exaggerated figure of 50,000 men, led byAlbert, Count of Biandrate , and his nephewOtto Altaspata .Albert, Count of Parma , the brother of theAntipope Guibert , was there as a representative of the resolution of the church-state conflicts which enveloped Lombardy in the final decades of the eleventh century.The army proceeded by land through Carinthia, with the permission of Duke Henry V, and then through
Bulgaria without incident, relying on Anselm's negotiations withAlexius I Comnenus ,Byzantine emperor , to assure them of markets and supplies. AtConstantinople , rioting broke out, but he and Albert quelled it with ease and he refused the rich gifts offered by the emperor, who ferried the soldiery across theBosphorus . AtNicomedia , inAsia Minor , he metRaymond IV of Toulouse , one of the leading barons of the capture of Jerusalem. Guided by Raymond, the army marched throughAnatolia , skirmishing with the Turks atKastamonu and betweenMerzifon andAmasya . These initial confrontations were successes for the Lombards. Anselm fought in these engagements and received wounds which he went to Constantinople to nurse. There he died and was buried. News of his passing did not reach Milan until 1102. He was succeeded by Grossolano.ources
*Landolfo Iuniore di San Paolo. "Historia Mediolanensis".
*Ghisalberti, Alberto M. "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: III Ammirato – Arcoleo". Rome, 1961.
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