Arnulf

Arnulf is a masculine German given name. It is composed of the Germanic elements arn "eagle" and ulf "wolf". The -ulf, -olf suffix was an extremely frequent element in Germanic onomastics and from an early time was perceived as a mere suffix forming given names. Similarly, the suffix -wald, -ald, -old, originally from wald "rule, power" underwent semantic weakening. Therefore, the name Arnulf and Arnold were often conflated in early medieval records, as is the case with bishop Arnulf of Metz (died 640), especially as the final consonant came to be dropped (Arnoul).

The name Arnulf is attested from as early as the 5th century, as the name of the brother of Odoacer. The name is attested with some frequency in Medieval Germany throughout the 8th to 11th centuries, in the spelling variants Arnulf, Arnulph, Arnolf, occasionally also as Arenulph, Harnulf, Harnolf, Harnolph. In the 9th century, Arnulf of Carinthia was the ruler of East Francia and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 896.

There was an Anglo-Saxon cognate, Earnulf (Ernulf), which was assimilated to the Frankish form of the name after the Norman conquest. Arnulf of Eynesbury is an obscure 9th-century English saint, who was mostly forgotten by the 11th century, and who was perhaps just a folkloristic duplicate of the historical Arnulf of Metz. In any case, the English Arnulf would have been known as Earnulf, and his relics were venerated in Earnulfesbyrig (Eynesbury, Cambridgeshire). The name is also attested in medieval Scandinavia, as Old Norse Arnúlfr (Ærnulfr, Ǫrnólfr, Ǫrnulfr, Old Swedish Ærinolf, Ærnolf, Ärnulf). Scandinavian dialectal and regional variants of the name include Annul, Annulv, Anul, Arnolv, Arnulv, Örnólfur, Ørnolvur, Örnulf, Ørnulf, Ørnulv.

Arnulf (archbishop of Reims)

Arnulf (also Arnulph or Arnoul) was archbishop of Reims and the illegitimate son of King Lothair of France.

Archbishop Adalberon wanted Gerbert of Aurillac to succeed him, but King Hugh Capet accepted the elected Arnulf, a Carolingian, in March 989. In September of that year, Arnulf supported an attempt to place his uncle Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine, on the throne. Charles briefly held Rheims and Laon. In 990, Arnulf refused to attend a synod at Senlis and he and Charles were imprisoned (March 29).

In June, 991, Seguin, Archbishop of Sens presided over a Synod of Reims in the Basilica of Saint Basle, which deposed Arnulf for alleged high treason in favour of Gerbert, later Pope Sylvester II.

This deposition was much opposed, however. Pope John XV sent Leo, abbot of Saints Boniface and Alexius at Rome, as legate to preside over a synod at Mouzon, June 2, 995. Gerbert was suspended from the episcopum. A second synod, held July 1, declared the whole process of deposition and elevation to be illegal and invalid. Thus, Arnulf was reinstated.

Arnulf (bishop of Orléans)

Arnulf (died 1003) was bishop of Orléans. He is known for his feud with Abbo of Fleury, and his denunciation of the papacy.

Life

Arnulf was the nephew of Ermentheus, the previous bishop, succeeding to the see on his death in 970. He was known as a strong supporter of Hugh Capet, who took over as ruler of West Francia. Abbo, who became abbot of Fleury in 988, offended Arnulf by his vigorous advocacy of the rights of monasteries. Their power struggle is documented from Abbo's side in his works.

At the Synod of Verzy in 991 Arnulf resisted papal interference, with very aggressive rhetoric. His speech there, O lugenda Roma, was passed down in a text composed by Gerbert d'Aurillac, who became Pope Sylvester II at the end of the decade. Gerbert's version took remarks by Arnulf, and put them into connected form. It also emphasised the attack on the pope of the time, John XV, over the destructive remarks about the institution of the papacy. The business of the meeting, at Saint Basle Monastery, was to deal with Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims as a rebel, part of the aftermath of Hugh Capet's assumption of power from the Carolingians. The speech attributed to Arnulf as prolocutor, and in particular his characterisation of the Pope as Antichrist, was quoted subsequently, for example by the Magdeburg Centuriators, and by James I of England.