Arnoldus was born in 1040 in Tiegem (Flanders) as the son of the Duke of Oudenaarde and the Duchess of Hainaut. As a knight he joined the Catholic order of the Benedictijner monks at the St. Medardus Abbey in Soisson (France). He became the "Abt" and was promoted to Bishop later.

It was very common in that era that the nobility held the top positions in the church. Here are three reasons. First reason: only the nobility could afford to give their children an education. The second reason is, the nobility was the greatest donor to the church and the abbeys. They gave the land to the monk orders to build the abbeys and the churches. The nobility gave the orders the right to do all kind of trades, one of them brewing beer. The third reason was the common rule that only the first son inherited all the belongings of the family. The other sons could wander around having fun fighting somebody else's war, or they could always kill the older brother to become the master of the family fortune, or pursue a career in the church. The daughters had the option to marry an other eldest rich son, or to pursue a career as a nun.

Arnoldus founded the abbey of St. Peter in Oudenburg (Flanders: between Bruges and Ostend) in 1070. He died 47 years old in the abbey. Legend tells us that he, still a bishop, traveled around in Flanders, infested by the black plague, to tell the people to drink beer instead of water. He blessed the brew kettles with his holy stick, and everybody who drank the beer was cured. For these miracles, he later became sainted by pope Gregorius VIII in 1120. And certainly in Belgium, all brewers throw parties on August 18, the day St. Arnoldus is commemorated in the Church.
(Newsletter September 1997)