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.

Uncertain Ancestry

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:

                married

                married

                married

                married

           Siegbert the Lame       - 509

                   Cloderic of Cologne     477 -

                Parricide  

                   Munderic        500 - 532

                Arthenia   500 -

           Bodegisel I     

               Palatina    

          Bodegisel II     - 588
               married

                married

                         (Mellobaude descent written by Alex R. Kuestner)