DESING, ANSELM. — Benedictine, born at Amberg on 15 March 1699, died at Ensdorf on 17 December 1772. He taught at Freising, Ensdorf, and Salzburg; in 1761 he was elected abbot of Ensdorf.
A man of encyclopedic culture, he also cultivated the art of engraving and painting. Having entered into discussion with English and French deism, he addressed problems of civil natural law (Ius naturale liberatum ac repurgatum, 1753; Ius gentium redactum ad limites suos, 1753, etc.). He defended the thesis that royal power emanates from that of God, against the Wigs, who placed the foundation and origin of the State in a contract.
BIBL.: J. Stegmann, A. D., Abt von Ensdorf, Munich 1929.
Alberto Scola