Grimoald was the second son of Pepin of Herstal and Plectrude and his father placed him in the office of mayor of the palace in the Neustrian kingdom sometime after 700,[1] when he was still young.
When his elder brother, Drogo of Champagne, died in 708, Grimoald also received charge of northern Burgundy.[2] He married Theudesinda (or Theodelinda), daughter of Radbod, King of the Frisians,[3] and had two sons: Theudoald and Arnold. While returning from a visit to the tomb of Saint Lambert at Liège, Grimoald was murdered on the road to Jupille[4] by a certain Rangar, in the employ of his father-in-law. His sons carried on a fight to be recognised as Pepin of Herstal's true heirs, since Grimoald predeceased his father, and his half-brother Charles succeeded to the lands and offices of their father.
