two of his letters to hermits do so, "evidence of his belief in their spiritual prowess". His letters of guidance—one to Hugh, a hermit near Caen, and two to a community of lay nuns—endorse their lives as a refuge from the difficulties of the political world with which Anselm had to contend. Many of Anselm's letters contain passionate expressions of attachment and affection, often addressed "to the beloved lover" (). While there is wide agreement that Anselm was personally committed to the monastic ideal of celibacy, some academics such as McGuire and Boswell have characterized these writings as expressions of a homosexual inclination. The general view, expressed by Olsen and Southern, sees the expressions as representing a "wholly spiritual" affection "nourished by an incorporeal ideal". Legacy Two biographies of Anselm were written shortly after his death by his chaplain and secretary Eadmer () and the monk Alexander (). Eadmer also detailed Anselm's struggles with the English monarchs in his history (). Another was compiled about fifty years later by John of Salisbury at the behest of Thomas Becket. The historians William of Malmesbury, Orderic Vitalis, and Matthew Paris all left full accounts of his struggles against the second and third Norman kings. Anselm's students included Eadmer, Alexander, Gilbert Crispin, Honorius Augustodunensis, and Anselm of Laon. His works were copied and disseminated in his lifetime and exercised an influence on the Scholastics, including Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. His thoughts have guided much subsequent discussion on the procession of the Holy Spirit and the atonement. His work also anticipates much of the later controversies over free will and predestination. An extensive debate occurred—primarily among French scholars—in the early 1930s about "nature and possibility" of Christian philosophy, which drew strongly on Anselm's work. Modern scholarship remains sharply divided over the nature of Anselm's episcopal leadership. Some, including Fröhlich and Schmitt, argue for Anselm's attempts to manage his reputation as a devout scholar and cleric, minimizing the worldly conflicts he found himself forced into. Vaughn and others argue that the "carefully nurtured image of simple holiness and profound thinking" was precisely employed as a tool by an adept, disingenuous political operator, while the traditional view of the pious and reluctant church leader recorded by Eadmer—one who genuinely "nursed a deep-seated horror of worldly advancement"—is upheld by Southern among others. Veneration Anselm's hagiography records that, when a child, he had