Anselm IV

Who was Anselm IV?

Anselm IV was the Archbishop of Milan from 3 November 1097 to his death on 30 September 1101. He was a close friend of Pope Urban II and prominent in the Crusade of 1101, whose Lombard contingent he led and on which he died.

According to Galvano Fiamma, he was born in Bovisio, 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, taken holy orders before his consecration 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 condemned simony. 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 the First Crusade. He preached the crusade throughout Lombardy, 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!"