ANSELM DESING. - Benedictine, born at Amberg on 15 March 1699, died at Ensdorf on 17 December 1772. He taught at Freising, at Ensdorf, and at Salzburg; in 1761 he was elected abbot of Ensdorf.
A man of encyclopedic culture, he also cultivated the art of engraving and painting. Engaging in debate with English and French deism, he addressed questions of natural and civil law (*In naturale liberatum ac repurgatum*, 1753; *In gentium redactum ad limites suos*, 1753, etc.). He defended the thesis of the emanation of royal power from that of God, opposing the Whigs who posited a contract as the foundation and origin of the state.
BIBL.: J. Stegmann, *A. D., Abt von Ensdorf*, Munich 1920. Alberto Scola