Aigulphe
- Episcopus Agiulfus Metensis
- Papal Recommendation
- Allegations of Property Seizure
- Family Lineage
- Commemoratio Genealogiae
- Name and Ancestry
Episcopus Agiulfus Metensis
Agiulfus served as the 24th Bishop of Metz from 590 to 601 AD, but little is known about his life.
Papal Recommendation
In 596 AD, Pope Gregory I wrote to Agiulfus, recommending that he welcome missionaries sent to Britain. It is believed that this mission took place in 601 AD.
Allegations of Property Seizure
In 616 AD, Saint Bertrand, Bishop of Le Mans, mentioned in his will that Agiulfus and his nephew Arnoald had seized property belonging to the Diocese of Le Mans.
Family Lineage
According to Paul the Deacon, writing in his "Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium" around 784 AD, Agiulfus was the son of a Frankish princess, the daughter of King Chlodovech, and a father from a noble senatorial family. His nephew Arnoald succeeded him, followed by Bishop Pappo.
Modern historian Christian Settipani believes that Paul the Deacon misinterpreted his sources and that Agiulfus' grandfather was actually Chloderic, the last king of Cologne.
Commemoratio Genealogiae
The "Commemoratio Genealogiae Domni Arnulfi Episcopi et Confessoris Christi," written in the Diocese of Metz in 840 or 855 AD, mentions Bishop Agiulfus' brothers as being Saint Firminus and Saint Feriol, sons of Senator Ansbert.
While the Commemoratio is incorrect in its connection between the two bishops and Ansbert, Settipani posits that Ansbert was actually Saint Firmin's nephew. Since Saint Firmin's family is known as the Ferreoli, Agiulfus may have been the grandson of Tonantius Ferreolus, a senator in Narbonne, and Industria.
Name and Ancestry
The name "Agilulf" suggests a connection to the Agilulfing family, to which Agiulfus' possible maternal grandmother, Chloderic's wife, may have belonged.
