Salvatore of Montferrat Character Analysis

Salvatore speaks a strange combination of multiple languages, including Latin, an Italian dialect, and Provençale. Adso describes his face and body as “bestial.” Like Remigio, he was a follower of Fra Dolcino and has taken sanctuary in the abbey. He is arrested by Bernard Gui for using superstitious rituals to try to cast a love spell on a girl from the village, and Remigio accuses him of collaborating in the murders. His bad Latin accidentally gives William and Adso the key to opening the finis Africae: he refers to a horse as “of the third” instead of “the third,” which helps William understand Venantius’s riddle. Salvatore’s bizarre language demonstrates that even confusing and incoherent signs can have meaning.