The Order of Saint Benedict of New Hampshire, our founding religious order, received its official charter from the State of New Hampshire on August 1, 1889. With the support of Manchester’s first diocesan bishop, Bishop Dennis Bradley, the Benedictine founders began the construction of the beautiful academic institution, known today as “Saint Anselm College.”  Our founders appropriately chose Saint Anselm of Canterbury, an English saint and medieval scholar, as the college’s patron.