Remigio of Varagine and Salvatore's shared past as Dolcinians

Remigio of Varagine and Salvatore's shared past as Dolcinians is a crucial backstory that reveals the heretical roots of two seemingly minor characters, linking the abbey's present crimes to the violent history of the Apostolic Brethren and exposing the porous boundary between orthodox reform and condemned heresy in the early fourteenth century.

Origins and Meeting on Bald Mountain

Remigio, born into a city family, joined the Franciscan convent in Varagine as a boy but was drawn to the radical preaching of Fra Dolcino, who had revived the Apostolic Brethren after the burning of Gherardo Segarelli. Salvatore, by contrast, came from a childhood of rural famine and hardship; his parents were serfs, and he had wandered through Europe as a beggar, thief, and member of various penitential sects before falling in with the Dolcinians. The two men met on Bald Mountain, where Dolcino's band had fortified itself, and they fought together in the ensuing campaigns. Salvatore later confessed under interrogation that he and Remigio had been present at the Battle of Monte Rebello and had escaped together after Dolcino's defeat.

Shared Flight and Concealment

After the collapse of the Dolcinian revolt, Remigio and Salvatore fled together, eventually reaching the convent of Casale, where they were received by the Minorites. There they changed their habits, joining the Cluniac order to avoid persecution. Ubertino of Casale, who had himself left the Franciscans, procured permission for them to enter the Benedictine abbey where the novel is set. Remigio became the cellarer, a position that gave him authority over the kitchen and storerooms, while Salvatore served as his personal assistant, free to eat without stealing and to praise the Lord without being burned. For years they concealed their past, living as ordinary monks, but the memory of their heretical youth remained a secret bond between them.

The Letters of Fra Dolcino

When Dolcino neared capture, he entrusted Remigio with letters to be carried to sectarians in Bologna. Remigio never delivered them; instead, terrified of keeping them on his person but unwilling to destroy them, he gave them to Malachi of Hildesheim, the librarian, who hid them in the most inaccessible part of the library. Salvatore knew of this arrangement and, when arrested by Bernard Gui, revealed the existence of the letters. This disclosure led directly to Remigio's trial for heresy, as Bernard used the letters to prove Remigio's continued adherence to Dolcinian doctrines.

Betrayal and Confession

Under interrogation, Remigio initially tried to deny his past, but Salvatore's testimony forced him to confess. He admitted to having been with Dolcino on Bald Mountain and Monte Rebello, to having shared the sect's belief in poverty and its hatred of the clergy, and to having betrayed Dolcino to the Bishop of Vercelli's forces in exchange for a safe-conduct. He described witnessing the torture and burning of Dolcino and Margaret of Trent, a memory that had haunted him for years. In a final, desperate outburst, he confessed to all the abbey's murders, though William of Baskerville recognized this as a madman's attempt to embrace death rather than face torture. Salvatore, for his part, was led away to be tried alongside Remigio, his fate sealed by his own confession.

Significance

The shared Dolcinian past of Remigio and Salvatore serves as a narrative device that connects the abbey's internal conflicts to the wider religious and political upheavals of the age. It demonstrates how the ideals of evangelical poverty, when pushed to extremes, could lead to violence and rebellion, and how the church's persecution of heresy created a class of fugitives who carried their secrets into the heart of orthodox institutions. Their story also underscores the theme of the simple people who are used by both sides and ultimately discarded, as William observes that the cellarer and Salvatore are "burnt flesh" long before they are actually condemned.