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When did St. Anselm of Canterbury write Cur Deus homo?
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St. Anselm of Canterbury
St. Anselm of Canterbury (center), terra-cotta altarpiece by Luca della Robbia; in the Museo Diocesano, Empoli, Italy.
St. Anselm of Canterbury completed his influential work Cur Deus homo? in 1099.1
He had begun writing the manuscript earlier and carried an incomplete version with him when he left England. Following the Council of Bari, he retreated to the village of Liberi, near Capua, where he finished the text. This work serves as the definitive treatment of his satisfaction theory of atonement, which posits that the death of Christ was the only rational means to reconcile humanity with God.12