Vitalis of Farfa explained

Vitalis (Italian: Vitale) was the "surrogate" Abbot of Farfa in 888, between the death of Spento and the election of the long-serving Peter. The history of the period in Farfa's history, besides the barest chronological outline, has been obscure since it was first written down, by Gregory of Catino in the late eleventh century.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Marios Costambeys, Power and Patronage in the Early Medieval Italy: Local Society, Italian Politics, and the Abbey of Farfa, c.700–900 (Cambridge: 2007), 162n.