Theodemir or Theudimer (died 743) was a

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

''comes'' (count) prominent in the southeast of Carthaginensis (the region around Murcia) during the last decades of the Visigothic kingdom and for several years after the Arab conquest. He ruled seven cities in southeastern Spain, mentioned in the Treaty of Orihuela that was preserved by the Andalusian historian Ibn Adarí in the thirteenth century: Orihuela, Valentila (possibly an equivalent for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, Mula, Bigastro, Eyya (probably Ojós), and Lorca.Collins, ''The Arab Conquest of Spain'', 39–41. Sometime probably during the joint reign of Egica and Wittiza, a Byzantine fleet raided the coasts of southern Iberia and was driven off by Theudimer. The dating of this event is disputed: it may have occurred as part of Leontios' expedition to relieve

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, under assault by the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, in 697; perhaps later, around 702; or perhaps late in Wittiza's reign. What is almost universally accepted is that it was an isolated incident connected with other military activities (probably against the

) and not an attempt to reestablish the province of

Spania Spania () was a Roman province, province of the Eastern Roman Empire from 552 until 624 in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It was established by the List of Byzantine emperors, Emperor Justinian I in an effort to res ...

, lost in the 620s. As E. A. Thompson states, "We know nothing whatever of the context of this strange event." After the defeat of king

Roderic Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...

at the

Battle of Guadalete The Battle of Guadalete was the first major battle of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, fought in 711 at an unidentified location in what is now southern Spain between the Visigoths under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces o ...

in 711 or 712, Theudimer resisted the invading Arabs, but he was eventually defeated in pitched battle and made peace with the Muslim

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa. "The text of the treaty he signed has been preserved in at least three separate sources, including a fourteenth-century biographical dictionary, and is dated to 5 April 713 ( 4 Recheb 94 AH)." The treaty allowed that Christians who submitted to Muslim rule ("the patronage of God") would be spared their lives and allowed to continue living with their families according to their mores and practising their Catholic faith in their churches, but they were required to pay a tribute ''per capita'' and to turn over any enemies of the conquerors to the government. The tribute consisted of one

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

, four measures (or jugfuls) each of wheat, barley, grape juice, and vinegar, plus two of honey and oil; and half this for slaves. Theudimer retained his land and his local authority. Theudimer later travelled to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to have his treaty confirmed by the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

Caliph. However, it is unknown how long this treaty lasted in practice, whether it continued until Theudimer's death (which is recorded in the '' Chronicle of 754'') or after, or was cut short before his death.Collins, ''The Arab Conquest of Spain'', 191. His prominence in the region is testified by the number of later Gothic nobles in the same region who tried to claim descent from him. The region itself was given the commemorative name Tudmir by the Arabs. Theudimer left a son, Athanagild, who was described as very wealthy by the ''Chronicle'', but whether or not he was his successor is debated by scholars. If he did succeed, he would have done so around 740, but his fate is unknown and the region of Tudmir had lost its independence by the 780s.Collins, in Gerli, ''Medieval Iberia'', 128.

In fiction

In the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

'' Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII'' (1879), the characters mention ''Teodomiro'' "duke of Aurariola and Baetica, general prevost of the army" as one of those who successfully resist Islamic dominance along with Pelayo of Asturias and García Jiménez of

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

.'' Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII'', p. 276, Francisco Navarro Villoslada, 1973, Editorial La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca.

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , last=Collins , first=Roger , author-link=Roger Collins, title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711 , year=2004 , publisher=Blackwell Publishing , location=Oxford , isbn=0-631-18185-7 *König, Daniel G. 2020. “713: The Treaty of Tudmir As a Testimony to the Muslim Subjection of the Iberian Peninsula”. ''Transmediterranean History'' 2 (1). https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2020.2.1.24.

External links

* Charles Morris
"The Stratagem Of Theodomir"
''Historical Tales: Spanish'', Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1898. Gothic warriors 8th-century Visigothic people 8th-century people from al-Andalus History of Murcia (region) History of the Valencian Community Umayyad conquest of Hispania 743 deaths Year of birth unknown Vassal rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate