FAMIANO, saint. — Born in Cologne ca. 1090, died on 8 August 1150 at Gallese (Viterbo). Of noble family, given the name Gerardo or Quardo at birth, in his youth he made pilgrimages out of devotion to Rome and other shrines of Italy and to Santiago de Compostela, spending six years on them.
He became a Cistercian monk in the monastery of Oseira near the Mifto River in Spain. Having been made abbot, he soon relinquished the office in order to continue his pilgrimages, especially to the Holy Places, where he remained for three years, passing through Rome again. He had spent 42 years of his life on pilgrimage. He is said to have been canonized in 1154 by Adrian IV, who is said to have changed his name from Quardo to the Latin name F.
BIBL.: Arto SS. Augusti, II, Paris 1867, pp. 380–95; S. Steffen, Der hl. Familien in der Geschichte und Legende, in Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktiner- und dem Cistercienser-Orden, 20 (1908), pp. 163–80, 461–80. Uldarico Vicentini