General Notes

Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 - August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble, who had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms as bishop and was later made a saint.  Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II (595-612). In 613, however, with Pippin of Landen he led the aristocratic opposition to Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia that led to her downfall and the reunification of Frankish lands under Clotaire II. About the same year, he became Bishop of Metz.  From 623, again with Pippin, now Mayor of the Austrasian palace, Arnulf was adviser to Dagobert I, before retiring in 627 to become a hermit in the Vosges mountains with his friend Romaric.
Before he was consecrated, he had three children by his wife, Doda: Ansegisel,Chlodulf ,Martin
Ansegisel married Pippin's daughter, Begga, and the son of this marriage, Pippin II, was Charlemagne's great-grandfather.
Arnulf was canonized and is known as the patron saint of brewing. His feast day is either July 18 or August 16. In iconography, he is portrayed with a rake in his hand. He is often confused in the legends with Arnold of Soissons, another patron saint of brewing. He is also known as Saint Arnold. While Arnulf is recognised as one of the earliest documented ancestors of, say, Charlemagne and thereby most modern European Royal families, Arnulf's own parentage is both uncertain and undocumented: Some have claimed that Arnulf's father was Arnoldus (b Abt. 535, Saxony, Germany - d. 600), and that his mother was Ada of Schwabia.  According to Frankish myth, Arnulf was the son of Bodigisel. Others have claimed that Arnulf's mother was Berthe, Princess of Paris (539-640).  Still others hold that Arnulf descended from Mellobaude thus: Descendants of Mellobaude

Mellobaude 320 - 376
Richemir 350 - 384
married
Ascyla 352 -
Theodemir Magnus 370 - 414
married
Valentina Justina - 414
Clovis the Riparian 398 - 448
married
Ildegonde De Cologne 399 - 450
Childebert of Cologne 430 - 483
married
Amalaberge 435 - 478
Siegbert the Lame       - 509
Cloderic of Cologne     477 -
married
Parricide  
Munderic        500 - 532
married
Arthenia    500 -
Bodegisel I    
married
Palatina    
Bodegisel II     - 588
married
Oda of Suevian
Arnulf 582 - 641
married
Dode 586 - 612

(Mellobaude descent written by Alex R. Kuestner)











Pepin of Landen, joined with Arnulf, bishop of Metz, in the struggle to overthrow Brunhild, queen of Austrasia, in 613, and subsequently governed the kingdom as mayor of the palace for Brunhild's successor, Clotaire II. Pepin's descendants remained dominant in Austrasia, and in the following century displaced the Merovingians as the royal house of the Franks.
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