person page - 113

Saint Gertrude of Nivelles (626 - March 17, 659) was abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Nivelles, in present-day Belgium.

She was a daughter of Pepin I of Landen, and a younger sister of St. Begga, Abbess of Andenne. One day, when she was about ten years of age, her father invited King Dagobert and some noblemen to a banquet. When on this occasion she was asked to marry the son of the Duke of Austrasia she indignantly replied that she would marry neither him nor any other man, but that Christ alone would be her bridegroom.

After the death of her father in 639, her mother Itta, following the advice of Saint Amand, Bishop of Maestricht, erected a double monastery, one for men, the other for women, at Nivelles. She appointed her daughter Gertrude as its first abbess, while she herself lived there as a nun, assisting the young abbess by her advice. Among the numerous pilgrims that visited the monastery of Nivelles, there were the two brothers St. Follian and St. Ultan, both of whom were Irish monks and were on their way from Rome to Peronne, where their brother St. Furseus, lay buried. Gertrude and her mother gave them a tract of land called Fosse on which they built a monastery. Ultan was made superior of the new house, while Follian remained at Nivelles, instructing the monks and nuns in Holy Scripture.

After the death of Itta in 652, Gertrude entrusted the interior management of her monastery to a few pious nuns, and appointed some capable monks to attend to the outer affairs, in order that she might gain more time for the study of Holy Scripture, which she almost knew by heart. The large property left by her mother she used for building churches, monasteries and hospices. At the age of thirty-two she became so weak through her continuous abstinence from food and sleep that she found it necessary to resign her office. After taking the advice of her monks and nuns, she appointed her niece, Wulfetrude, as her successor, in December, 658. A day before her death she sent one of the monks to St. Ultan at Fosse to ask whether God had made known to him the hour of her death. The saint answered that she would die the following day during holy Mass. The prophecy was verified. She was venerated as a saint immediately after her death, and a church was erected in her honour by Agnes, the third Abbess of Nivelles.

The towns of Geertruidenberg, Breda, and Bergen-op-Zoom in North Brabant honour her as patron. She is also patron of travellers, and is invoked against fever, rats, and mice, particularly field-mice. There is a legend that one day she sent some of her subjects to a distant country, promising that no misfortune would befall them on the journey. When they were on the ocean, a large sea-monster threatened to capsize their ship, but disappeared upon the invocation of St. Gertrude. In memory of this occurrence travellers during the Middle ages drank the so-called "Sinte Geerts Minne" or "Gertrudenminte" before setting out on their journey. St. Gertrude is generally represented as an abbess, with rats and mice at her feet or running up her cloak or pastoral staff.

aka Arnoul (St Arnoul) "De Heristal" METZ Bishop of Metz

Arnulf was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and is known as the patron saint of brewing
*****************************************************************

Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 _ August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble who had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms as a bishop and was later canonized as a saint. He is also known by his anglicized name, Arnold.

Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II (595-612). About 611 he was made bishop of Metz. In 613, Arnulf and Pippin of Landen, whose daughter Begga, had married Arnulf's son Ansegisel , he led the aristocratic opposition to Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. The revolt led to her downfall and the reunification of Frankish lands under Clotaire II. Though Arnulf wanted to retreat to the Vosges mountains as a hermit, he was persuaded to stay and became the bishop of Metz.

From 623 (with Pippin of Landen, then the Mayor of the Palace), Arnulf was an adviser to Dagobert I. With his friend Romaric, he retired in 627 to a mountain site in the Vosges, to implement his lifelong resolution to become a hermit.

Before he was consecrated, he had two sons by his wife Doda: Ansegisel and Chlodulf. Ansegisel married Pippin's daughter Begga, and their child was Pippin of Herstal ("Pippin the Middle"), one of Charlemagne's great-grandfathers. Chlodulf, like his father, became bishop of Metz. The existence of third son called Martin is considered dubious.

Arnulf was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church 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 legend with Arnold of Soissons, who is another patron saint of brewing.

***********************************************************************************

Uncertain ancestry

While Arnulf is recognised as one of the earliest documented ancestors of 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 (c.535_600), and that his mother was Ada of Swabia. According to Frankish legends, Arnulf was the son of Bodigisel. Others have claimed that Arnulf's mother was Bertha, Princess of Paris (539_640).

Still others hold that Arnulf descended from Mellobaude:

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

Oda De SAVOY.

Caribert (also spelled Charibert), Count of Laon, is the obscure ancestor of Charlemagne. He was the father of the great king's mother, Bertrada of Laon. He was the son of Martin of Laon. In 721, he signed, with his mother Bertrada of Prüm, the fundation act of the Abbey of Prüm. The same year, also with his mother, he made a donation to the Abbey of Echternach. In 744, Bertrada of Laon married Pepin the Short, mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy and later king of the Franks. He died before 762, as stated in an act of his daughter and son-in-law.

Gerald I of Savoy, Count of the Vinzgouw.