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{{Short description|7th-century Frankish bishop and Catholic saint}}

A Frankish noble, '''Arnulf of Metz''' gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II ([[595]]-[[612]]). In [[613]], however, with Pepin he led the aristocratic opposition to Brunhild that led to her downfall and the reunification of Frankish lands under Choltar II. About the same year, he became bishop.

{{other uses|St Arnulf (disambiguation)}}

From [[623]], again with Pepin, now mayor of the Austrasian palace, Arnulf was adviser to Dagobert I, before retiring (629?) to become a hermit. Arnulf's son Ansegisel married Pepin's daughter Begga; the son of this marriage, Pepin II, was Charlemagne's great-grandfather.

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox saint

| honorific_prefix= Saint

| name = Arnulf of Metz

| birth_date = {{c.}} 582

| death_date = 643/47

| feast_day = 18 July

| venerated_in = [[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]

| image = Saint Arnould.jpg

| imagesize = 250px

| caption =

| birth_place = [[Lay-Saint-Christophe]]

| death_place = Habendum, near [[Remiremont]]

| titles =

| beatified_date =

| beatified_place =

| beatified_by =

| canonized_date =

| canonized_place =

| canonized_by =

| attributes = Portrayed with a rake in his hand

| patronage = Brewers

| major_shrine =

| suppressed_date =

| issues =

}}

{{carolingians|268px}}

'''Arnulf of Metz''' ({{c.}} 582 – 645) was a [[Franks|Frankish]] [[bishop of Metz]] and advisor to the [[Merovingian]] court of [[Austrasia]]. He later retired to the [[Remiremont Abbey|Abbey of Remiremont]]. In French he is also known as '''Arnoul''' or '''Arnoulf'''. In English he is known as '''Arnold'''.

==Genealogy==

The ''Vita Sancti Arnulfi'' (c. 657), written shortly after Arnulf's death, states that he was of [[Franks|Frankish]] ancestry, from "sufficiently elevated and noble parentage, and very rich in worldly goods".<ref>''Vita Arnulfi'' c. 1, MG. SS. rer. Merov. 2, p. 432.</ref> Tenth- and eleventh-century texts like ''Genealogiae Breves Regum Francorum'' often claim that [[Arnoald]] was Arnulf's father, but this is considered a fabrication.<ref>MGH SS 13 p. 249</ref> Medieval Frankish historians [[Patrick J. Geary|Patrick Geary]] and [[Richard Gerberding]] observe that the lack of contemporary written texts makes it impossible to trace Arnulf's ancestry.<ref>Gerberding, ''The Rise of the Carolingians and the Liber Historiae Francorum'', 6.</ref><ref>Patrick Geary, ''Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 192.</ref>

Arnulf of Metz is traditionally considered the earliest named ancestor of [[Charlemagne]] and the [[Carolingian dynasty]]. This belief originates from two sources written after Arnulf's death. [[Paul the Deacon]]'s ''Liber de episcopis Mettensibus'' (c. 784) presents Arnulf as Charlemagne's third great-grandfather, while ''Annales Mettenses Priores'' (805) depicts him as only a "close relative."<ref> Kempf, ''Liber de episcopis Mettensibus'', 73.</ref><ref>Unknown, “The First Section of Annales Mettenses priores (805),” 352.</ref> Because these two accounts are inconsistent and written a century after Arnulf's death, some scholars say that the familial connection between Arnulf and Charlemagne was an invention by Charlemagne.<ref>Fouracre and Gerberding, “Vita Domnae Geretrude (The Life of Saint Gertrude),” 311.</ref><ref>Bouchard, “The Carolingian Creation of a Model of Patrilineage,” 141.</ref><ref>Collins,''Charlemagne'', 24–25.</ref>

==Life==

Arnulf was born to an important Frankish family near [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] in [[Lorraine]] around 582.<ref name=monks>[http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-arnoul-bishop/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Arnoul – Bishop”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921]</ref> The family owned vast domains between the [[Moselle]] and [[Meuse]] rivers.<ref name="Riche">[[Pierre Riché|Riché, Pierre]] – [https://books.google.com/books?id=Tcjy7bCmFL0C&dq=arnulf+of+metz&pg=PA16 ''The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993] {{ISBN|9780812213423}}</ref> As an adolescent, he was called to the Merovingian court of king [[Theudebert II]] (595–612) of [[Austrasia]],<ref name=Schaefer>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01752b.htm Schaefer, Francis. "St. Arnulf of Metz." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 18 Jul. 2014]</ref> where he was educated by [[Gondulf of Provence]].<ref name=monks/> Arnulf was later sent to serve as ''[[dux]]'' at the [[Schelde]].

Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II. He distinguished himself both as a military commander and in the civil administration; at one time he had under his care six distinct provinces.<ref name=Schaefer/> Arnulf married in 596 to a noblewoman whom later sources identify as Dode or Doda (born c. 584), the paternal aunt of Saint [[Glodesind]] of France, an abbess of a monastery in Metz.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Sainted Women of the Dark Ages|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1992|isbn=9780822382362|editor-last=McNamara|editor-first=Jo Ann|___location=Durham, North Dakota|pages=147|translator-last=McNamara|translator-first=Jo Ann|editor-last2=Halborg|editor-first2=John E.|editor-last3=Whatley|editor-first3=E. Gordon}}</ref> [[Chlodulf of Metz]] was their eldest son, but more important was their second son [[Ansegisel]], who married [[Begga]], daughter of [[Pepin of Landen|Pepin I of Landen]]. Arnulf is thus the male-line grandfather of [[Pepin of Herstal]], great-grandfather of [[Charles Martel]] and great-great-great-grandfather of [[Charlemagne]].

Around 611, Arnulf and his friend Romaricus, likewise an officer of the court, planned to make a pilgrimage to the [[Abbey of Lérins]].<ref name=Schaefer/> Chlothachar, who appreciated Arnulf's administrative skills, offered him the vacant see of [[Metz]], the capital of the Austrasian kingdom. His wife took the veil as a nun in a monastery at [[Treves|Trèves]], and Arnulf saw it as a sign of God and became a priest and bishop afterwards.<ref>Jean-Christophe Imbert, Geniphone.com: Lectio Divina; 18 July.</ref> He continued to serve as the king's steward and courtier.<ref name=Riche/>

The rule of Austrasia came into the hands of [[Brunhilda of Austrasia|Brunhilda]], the grandmother of Theudebert, who ruled also in [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]] in the name of her great-grandchildren. In 613 Arnulf joined his politics with Pepin of Landen and led the opposition of Frankish nobles against Queen Brunhilda. The revolt led to her overthrow, torture and eventual execution, and the subsequent reunification of Frankish lands under [[Chlothar II|Chlothachar II]].

Chlothachar later made his son [[Dagobert I]] king of Austrasia, which he ruled with the help of his adviser Arnulf. Pepin of Landen became [[mayor of the palace]]. In 624 Pepin and Arnulf encouraged Dagobert in the murder of Chrodoald, an important leader of the Frankish [[Agilolfings]] family. In 625 Arnulf took part in a council held by the Frankish bishops at [[Reims]].<ref>{{cite web | title=St. Arnulf of Metz | website=Catholic News Agency | url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-arnulf-of-metz-305 | access-date=2025-05-06}}</ref>

During his career he was attracted to religious life, and around 628 he retired to a hermitage at a mountain site in his domains in the [[Vosges]] to become a monk. His friend [[Romaric]], whose parents had been killed by Brunhilda, had preceded him to the mountains around 613; there Romaric and [[Amatus]] established [[Remiremont Abbey]]. After the death of Chlothachar in 629, Arnulf settled near Habendum, where he died some time between 643 and 647. He was buried at Remiremont.<ref name=Riche/>

Arnulf is venerated as a [[saint]] by the [[Catholic Church]]. In [[iconography]], he is typically portrayed with a pastoral staff or a rake in his hand.{{cn|date=July 2022}} His feast day is July 18.

==Legends==

There are three legends associated with Arnulf:

===The Legend of the Ring===

Arnulf was tormented by the violence that surrounded him and feared that he had played a role in the wars and murders that plagued the ruling families. Obsessed by these sins, Arnulf went to a bridge over the Moselle river. There he took off his bishop's ring and threw it into the river, praying to God to give him a sign of absolution by returning the ring to him. Many penitent years later, a fisherman brought to the bishop's kitchen a fish in the stomach of which was found the bishop's ring. Arnulf repaid the sign from God by immediately retiring as bishop and becoming a hermit for the remainder of his life.<ref>[http://santiebeati.it/dettaglio/63350 Agasso, Domenico. "Sant Arnolfo of Metz", ''Santi e Beati'', February 1, 2001]</ref>

===The Legend of the Fire===

At the moment Arnulf resigned as bishop, a fire broke out in the cellars of the royal palace and threatened to spread throughout the city of Metz. Arnulf, full of courage and feeling unity with the townspeople, stood before the fire and said, "If God wants me to be consumed, I am in His hands." He then made the sign of the cross at which point the fire immediately receded.

===The Legend of the Beer Mug===

It was July 642 and very hot when the parishioners of Metz went to Remiremont to recover the remains of their former bishop. They had little to drink and the terrain was inhospitable. At the point when the exhausted procession was about to leave Champigneulles, one of the parishioners, Duc Notto, prayed "By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack." Immediately the small remnant of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts that the pilgrims' thirst was quenched and they had enough to enjoy the next evening when they arrived in Metz. For this reason he is known as the patron saint of Brewers.

==See also==

{{Portal|Saints}}

* The [[Pippinids]], who traced their descent from Arnulf

* [[Tonantius Ferreolus (senator)]]

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==References==

* Alban Butler's ''Lives of the Saints'', edited, revised and supplemented by Thurston and Attwater. Christian Classics, Westminster, Maryland.

* Bouchard, Constance. “The Carolingian Creation of a Model of Patrilineage.” In ''Paradigms and Methods in Early Medieval Studies'', edited by Celia Martin Chazelle and Felice Lifshitz, 1st ed., 135–52. The New Middle Ages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

* [[Christian Settipani]] – ''La Préhistoire des Capétiens'', Première Partie.

* [[Paul Fouracre|Fouracre, Paul]], and Richard A. Gerberding, trans. “Vita Domnae Geretrude (The Life of Saint Geretrude).” In ''Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640-720'', 301–30. Manchester Medieval Sources Series. Manchester ; New York

*Geary, Patrick. ''Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

* Gerberding, Richard A. ''The Rise of the Carolingians and the Liber Historiae Francorum''. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press, 1987.

* McNamara, Jo Ann, John E. Halborg, and E. Gordon Whatley, eds. ''Sainted Women of the Dark Ages''. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.

* ''Saint ARNOUL – ancêtre de Charlemagne et des Européens'', edited by Imp. Louis Hellenbrand. Le Comité d'Historicité Européene de la Lorraine, Metz, France, 1989.

==External links==

* {{Commons category-inline|Arnulf of Metz}}

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[[Category:580s births]]

[[Category:640s deaths]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]

[[Category:People from Meurthe-et-Moselle]]

[[Category:Pippinids]]

[[Category:Carolingian dynasty]]

[[Category:Bishops of Metz]]

[[Category:7th-century Frankish bishops]]

[[Category:7th-century Frankish saints]]