Theodoric I

Theodoric I
King of the Visigoths
Felix Castello, Theodoric, King of the Goths, 1635.
Reign	418 - 451 AD
Coronation	418 AD
Predecessor	Wallia
Successor	Thorismund
Born	Peuce Island, Dobruja
Died	451 AD Battle of Chalons
Burial	Marne, France
Issue	Thorismund Theodoric II Frederic Euric I Retimer Himnerith
House	Balti dynasty
Father	Alaric I
Religion	Arianism

Theodoric I (c. 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. An illegitimate son of Alaric, Theodoric is famous for his part in defeating Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was killed on June 24.

In 418 he succeeded King Wallia. The Romans had ordered King Wallia to move his people from Iberia to Gaul. As king, Theodoric completed the settlements of the Visigoths in Gallia Aquitania II, Novempopulana and Gallia Narbonensis, and then used the declining power of the Roman Empire to extend his territory to the south.

After the death of Emperor Honorius and the usurpation of Joannes in 423 internal power struggles broke out in the Roman Empire. Theodoric used this situation and tried to capture the important road junction Arelate, but the Magister militum Aëtius, who was assisted by the Huns, was able to save the city.

The Visigoths concluded a treaty and were given Gallic noblemen as hostages. The later Emperor Avitus visited Theodoric, lived at his court and taught his sons.

Because the Romans had to fight against the Franks, who plundered Cologne and Trier in 435, and because of other events Theodoric saw the chance to conquer Narbo Martius (in 436) to obtain access to the Mediterranean Sea and the roads to the Pyrenees. But Litorius, with the aid of the Huns, could prevent the capture of the city and drove the Visigoths back to their capital Tolosa. The peace offer of Theodoric was refused, but the king won the decisive battle at Tolosa, and Litorius soon died in Gothic imprisonment from the injuries which he had received in this battle. Avitus went – according to the orders of Aëtius – to Tolosa and offered a peace treaty which Theodoric accepted. Perhaps the Romans recognized at that time the sovereignty of the Visigoth state.