The Remarkable Life of Ansger, a Breton Monk and Poet from the Loire Valley Who Became Bishop of Catania in Sicily 1091–1124

Abstract

A key figure in the establishment of the Latin church in Arabic Sicily after the Norman conquest was Bishop Ansger of Catania 1091-1124. Newly found information shows that, by origin a Breton, he first became a monk at St. Florent of Saumur in the Loire valley, then made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After his return he entered the monastery of St. Eufemia in Calabria where his rise to the office of prior led Count Roger of Sicily to choose him, with the approval of Pope Urban II, as the first bishop of Catania and abbot of St. Agatha. In a distinguished career of thirty-three years he oversaw the construction of its great cathedral church, contributed to its cultural life - one of his monks, Geoffrey Malaterra, dedicated his famous history to Ansger - and in all probability was instrumental in the introduction of Latin abbeys from the Holy Land into Sicily. As a Latin poet he left a remarkable fifty-line testament of his life in rhymed verse.