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Saint Alfanus I or Alfano I (died 1085) was the archbishop of Salerno from 1058 until his death. He was famed as a translator, writer, theologian, and medical doctor. He has been described as "the greatest cultural protagonist of literature and science in Salerno".Capparoni, Pietro. De quattuor humoribus corporis humani di Alfano I arcivescovo di Salerno (sec. XI). Roma: Istituto nazionale medico farmacologico Serono, 1928. His feast day is commemorated on October 9th.
Alfanus joined the Abbey of Montecassino in 1056, but did not remain there long before being sent to take charge of the Benedictines monastery in Salerno. In 1058, Pope Stephen IX, the abbot of Montecassino, named Alfanus archbishop of Salerno. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Gisulf II of Salerno, stopping by Constantinople in 1062, Walsh, Christine. The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, Routledge, 2017, no pagination where Gisulf sought Byzantine Empire assistance in holding off Robert Guiscard's expansion into his territory. That same year Alfanus gave the prince three strongholds in exchange for the monastery of San Vito. Efforts to withstand Guiscard ultimately proved unsuccessful. Jones, Anna Trumbore. The Bishop Reformed: Studies of Episcopal Power and Culture in the Central Middle Ages United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2017. n.p.,
As a translator, Alfanus was well-versed in both Latin and Arabic language, translating many manuscripts from the latter into the former. His interest in medicine and the translation of Arabic treatises on the subject led him to invite Constantine the African from Carthage (in what is now Tunisia) to Salerno to assist him. Constantine brought with him a library of Arabic medical texts which he commenced to translate into Latin. Alfanus also translated Greek medical treatises into Latin."Alfanus of Salerno (Alphanus)", The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, (Robert E. Bjork, ed.), OUP, 2010, He also wrote a number of poems and hymns.
As archbishop, Alfanus re-organized the archdiocese. He was a friend of Hildebrand of Sovana (later Pope Gregory VII) and Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino. He was also a patron of the arts and sciences, Lowe, Elias Avery. The Beneventan Script. A History of the South Italian Minuscule, Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 1914, p. 56 and politically influential.
In wielding control of southern Italy, Robert Guiscard sought to cultivate popular support. He married Sikelgaita from Salerno, retained Lombard coinage and local officials, and promoted the cult of the local patron, St. Matthew. In this he relied on the influential support of the Archbishop who praised and promoted the strong ties between the people of Salerno and St. Matthew's cult. Norman Expansion: Connections, Continuities and Contrasts, (Keith J. Stringer, Andrew Jotischky, eds.) Routledge, 2016, p. 196 In 1076, Guiscard laid the foundations for the new Salerno Cathedral. It was dedicated to Saint Matthew, whose relics were translated to the new crypt in 1080. Oldfield, Paul. Sanctity and Pilgrimage in Medieval Southern Italy, 1000-1200, Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 71
In Alfanus' later days as archbishop, he sheltered the exiled reformer, Pope Gregory VII, who died in Salerno.
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