ABSTRACT
Sometime before his death in 1085, Archbishop Alfanus I of Salerno composed a series of songs in celebration of the translation of the relics of St Matthew to the newly-constructed cathedral church.2 Funded by the Norman duke Robert Guiscard, who less than a decade earlier had taken the city by force from the Lombard prince Gisolf II after a long and arduous siege, the new church was built on an elevated spot in the middle of the city. Surrounded by walls, with a tall bell tower soaring above, the church looks very much like a fortress, with a commanding view of the city itself as well as the port and adjacent countryside.3 The songs composed by Alfanus likewise stressed Matthew’s role as urban protector. According to the archbishop,
1 Alfanus I of Salerno, I Carmi di Alfano I, arcivescovo di Salerno, ed. Anselmo Lentini and Faustino Avagliano, Miscellanea Cassinese 38 (Montecassino, 1974), no. 58, pp. 225-26.
