Arnulf of Metz, Pippin's close ally, was one of several royal counselors who received ecclesiastical posts after a secular career.

McNamara argues that Arnulf retired into religion at the time of Clothar's death in 628, but he kept close ties to the family by marrying his son to Gertrude's sister, Begga.

[9] At this feast, the King asked Gertrude if she would like to marry the "son of a duke of the Austrasians.... for the sake of his worldly ambition and mutual alliance.

"[10] Marriage alliances were important in this era although scholars disagree as to the extent parents or kings asserted power over spousal choice.

One scholar speculated that if Pippin I had lived longer, he would likely have forced Gertrude to marry the son of the Austrasian duke, thus giving power to the Pippinids sooner to supplant the Merovingians.

[13] After Otto died in battle, "the dignity of mayor of Sigebert's palace and control of all the kingdom of Austrasia was thus decisively assured to Grimoald" and the Pippinids.

As detailed in the Vita, only Itta's foundation of the Abbey of Nivelles stopped the constant flow of suitors interested in marrying Gertrude in order to ally with her wealthy family.

In the propertied classes, this meant that a widow could exercise considerable power by managing the estates of her minor children and arranging for their marriages.

Catherine Peyroux has said that Itta established the monastery in order to protect her and her daughter in the event that her sons fell out of favor with the ruling dynasty, as well as to safeguard the family lands from plunder or seizure through forced marriage.

During this period, trials for the family are mentioned involving the usurper Otto's bid to replace the Pippinids at the side of the king.

Gertrude also memorized passages and books on divine law, and she "openly disclosed the hidden mysteries of allegory to her listeners."

"[4] Fouracre and Gerberding assert that the men from across the sea are from Britain and Ireland and also highlight this as an example of the importance of Rome to the Franks long before Charlemagne ever had a relationship with the Pope.

[28] Before the foundation of Nivelles, Irish monks led by Foillan traveled to Francia, from Fursey's monastery in Ireland to escape pagan raids.

Ian Wood says that the purpose of Foillan's journey was to visit his benefactors, but he provides no evidence for this claim other than a citation of the Additamentum.

[29] After only a day of traveling, Foillan and his three companions were betrayed and murdered by an evil man who offered them shelter for the night in his house and then sold their belongings.

"[4] The second miracle attributed to Gertrude in the Vita took place as the anonymous author and his friend were peacefully sailing over the sea on the monastery's business.

[9] In the account, an incredible storm appears as well as a sea monster, causing great despair as "the sailors... turned to their idols," evidence of the persistence of paganism at the time.

"[6] The Vita states that "out of hatred of her father that kings, queens, and even priests... wished to drag her from her place" and steal Wulfetrude's property.

"[9] Gertrude's Vita describes her, after relinquishing her role as abbess, spending her time praying intensely and secretly wearing a hair shirt.

The abbesses and the canons used to regularly make a long journey outside the walls of the abbey in emulation of Gertrude, to meet the farmers, the poor and the sick.

"[33] The hundred years-old secondary school "Collège Sainte-Gertrude de Nivelles" founded by the Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier in the city owes its name to the saint.

This makes the Vita very important as a source for Charlemagne's ancestry as well as placing the "Cradle of the Carolingians" in the middle Meuse in Brabant as opposed to Moselle in Luxembourg, where Pepin II and Plectrude had large tracts of land.

As indicated by Charlemagne's inclusion of Arnulf of Metz in his family tree (in a work by Paul the Deacon, a Lombard), there were incentives to being associated with saints in Carolingian times.

Fouracre and Gerberding argue that there were large incentives to being associated with saints in the seventh century as well, casting doubt on the genealogy presented in many sources.

However, these scholars argue that the close temporal relationship of the three Austrasian sources to the life of Gertrude as well as the monastic audience of the works make them more than likely credible.

He says that "since Childebrand himself was the half-brother of Charles Martel, it is not surprising that the Fredegar continuator add the information contained in the Liber Historiae Francorum material largely concerned with Austrasia and Frisia" in 751.

"[40] As a result of this shift, Wood argues that "For the period up until 714, therefore, Annales Mettenses Priores produce a substantially different account of events from that offered by the Liber Historiae Francorum, making Pepin the center of attention, and conferring on him complete power from the Battle of Tertry onwards.

This is especially important, notes Wood, because "as a reading of history the so-called Metz Prior Annals have been extremely influential, providing the most popular interpretation of the late Merovingian period.

Wood believes that the shift in focus of the Metz Prior Annals is deliberate, citing the need to glorify the sanctity of the newly powerful Pippinids.

Her veneration as protector against rats and mice dates from the early 15th century during the Black Plague and spread from Southwestern Germany to the Netherlands and Catalonia.