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Why was St. Anselm of Canterbury exiled during King Henry I’s reign?

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Luca della Robbia: St. Anselm of Canterbury — 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 was exiled during the reign of King Henry I due to the Investiture Controversy, a significant conflict regarding whether secular rulers or the pope held the authority to appoint ecclesiastical officials.

Although Henry I initially sought Anselm’s support to secure his throne, the relationship deteriorated when the king insisted on his right to invest bishops and abbots with the spiritual symbols of their office, specifically the ring and crosier. Anselm refused to accept this royal prerogative, adhering to papal decrees that prohibited lay investiture. Because the pope repeatedly refused the king's requests for an exemption, Anselm remained in exile from April 1103 to August 1106.

The dispute was eventually resolved at the Synod of Westminster in 1107, where the king renounced the right to invest clergy with spiritual symbols, though he maintained that they must perform homage to him prior to consecration.1