Arnoald

[citation needed] Virtually no information survives concerning the acts of Arnoald prior to his becoming Bishop of Metz or during his occupation of the episcopal seat.

The Commemoratio Genealogiae Domni Karoli Glorissimi Imperatoris, clearly incorrect in some respects (see below), suggests strongly that Arnoald was one of the Ferreoli, a family dating from the 4th century who were based in the Midi but appear to have switched their loyalties from the Visigothic Kingdom to the Frankish Kingdom of Austrasia with its capital at Metz during the two decades following the Battle of Vouillé in 507.

There do not appear to be any predecessors of this family in the bishopric of Metz which prior to 590 was not important enough to warrant a single mention from Gregory of Tours.

Joseph Depoin[1] observed that chronologically and for other reasons - Arnulf was identified as a Frank in contemporary documents whereas Arnoald was identified by Paul the Deacon as a Roman ex nobilia senatorum familia orto - this construction was incorrect and proposed an alternative to the effect that Arnulf's father was Bodegisel, based in significant part on the Vita Gundolphi.

David H. Kelley then proposed that Arnoaldus was likely an ancestor of the Carolingians through a daughter Itta, wife of Pepin of Landen.