Saint Arnulf of Metz (582 – 640) Bishop of Metz, Patron Saint of Brewers, Possible Primogenitor of Charlemagne

Post author By Steven Wood Collins
Post date May 26, 2022
153 Comments on Saint Arnulf of Metz (582 – 640) Bishop of Metz, Patron Saint of Brewers, Possible Primogenitor of Charlemagne

A map showing Charlemagne’s additions (in light green) to the Frankish Kingdom

Saint Arnulf of Metz was born to an aristocratic Frankish family around 582. In his youth, he was called to the Merovingian court to serve Austrasia Archduke Theudebert II (585 – 612, who was an agnatic descendant of Clovis I Meroving (466 – 511) 1st King of Franks, 1st Christian Ruler of Gaul). He quickly rose through the court’s administrative and military ranks to eventually attain governorship of six provinces.

Always a pious Christian, Arnulf was spiritually moved to become a priest after his wife Doda entered a convent to become a nun. She was an agnatic descendant of Tonantius Ferreolus (418 – 476) Roman Praetorian Prefect of Gaul. His father was also a bishop of Metz.

Ansegisel (605 – 670), Arnulf’s youngest son, was the primogenitor of the Arnulfing-Pippinid lineage that temporarily supplanted the Merovings as kings of France when Pippin III (715 – 768) deposed Childeric III in 751.

Charlemagne (742 – 814) King of Franks and Lombards, Emperor of the Romans, Pippin’s son, was the namesake of the House of Carolingians of the Holy Roman Empire until its final dissolution in 987. Afterward, Hugh Capet (939 – 996) 1st “King of the Franks” continued the Holy Roman Empire as an agnatic descendant of the aforementioned Clovis I Meroving.

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 of God by immediately retiring as bishop and becoming a hermit for the remainder of his life.

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.

***

His feast is celebrated on July 18.

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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