Theudis

Theudis (Gothic: Þiudeis, Spanish: Teudis, Portuguese: Têudis), (c. 470 – June 548) was king of the Visigoths in Hispania from 531 to 548. He was the sword-bearer of Theodoric the Great, who sent him to govern the Visigothic kingdom during the minority of Amalaric, the son of king Alaric II and Theodegotho, the daughter of king Theodoric.

According to Procopius, during his governorship Theudis had married a Spanish woman who "belonged to the house of one of the wealthy inhabitants of that land, and not only possessed great wealth but also a great estate in Spain." With this wealth he was able to muster a private army of two thousand men, effectively making him independent of Theodoric's authority. Theodoric did not take any action against Theudis. One reason was that doing so would give the Franks, who had killed the Visigothic king Alaric in the Battle of Vouillé, an excuse to take to the field once again. Another was that Theudis was careful to obey the commands of his king, and never failed to send the annual tribute.

Following the death of Amalaric, last of the Balti dynasty, Theudis was elected king. Herwig Wolfram believes one factor that led to his selection was support of fellow Ostrogoths who had gone west with him. Peter Heather posits a second, noting that two of Theudis' Italian relatives -- Ildibad and Totila -- became kings of the Ostrogoths following the fall of the House of Theodoric in the Gothic Wars: "They probably represent, therefore, a particularly powerful non-royal clan."

In 541, Theudis had to confront the Franks under Chlothar I and Childebert I, who had penetrated as far as Zaragoza, which they besieged for forty-nine days, but according to Gregory of Tours the Franks lifted their siege when they learned the city was protected by the relics of Saint Vincent of Saragossa. The primary sources disagree over the outcome of this Frankish invasion: Isidore of Seville writes that the future king Theudigisel, who was then a general of Theudis, had killed all of the invaders except a group which had bribed him to allow them to escape; Although Gregory of Tours writes that "they succeeded in conquering a large part of Spain and they returned to Gaul with immense booty", Roger Collins observes that this was the first Visigothic victory over their Frankish rivals -- an achievement which undoubtedly added to Theudis' prestige.

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