| Theodemer | |
|---|---|
 Double portrait depicting Theodomir (left) with his wife, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. | |
| King of the Salian Franks | |
| Reign | 393–421/428? |
| Predecessor | Richomer |
| Successor | Chlodio |
| Died | 421-428? |
| Father | Richomer |
| Mother | Ascyla |
Theodemer (also Theudomer) was a Frankish king. He was the son of Richomeres and his wife Ascyla. [1] His father is to be identified with the Roman commander of that name, in which case Theodemer would have been a cousin of Arbogastes.
Not much is known of Theodemer. According to Gregory of Tours a war broke out between the Franks and the Romans, but the circumstances are unknown. The writer consulted older lists or chronicles (consularia) for his history of the Franks, but that was hundreds of years after the alleged events that took place in the early 5th century. Gregory was not an eyewitness, nor was the writer of the 7th-century Chronicles of Fredegar who Chlodio called his son. Much more is known about Theodemer's father and the family from which he descended. They belonged to the Frankish elite which since Emperor Valentinian I (364-375) supplied troops to the Roman army. [2]
Theodemer's family belonged to the Frankish elite who were closely intertwined with the Roman military and political system in the late Roman period. [3] He was the son of Richomer and Alsyla. His father was under Emperor Theodosius I (379-395) magister militum praesentalis (one of the two commanders-in-chief of the Eastern Roman army) and consul in 384. [4] [5] Nothing is known of his mother, but her name points to a Greek descent. As the son of a high-ranking officer in the eastern part of the empire, Theodemer probably grew up in Constantinople and returned to his tribal relatives in North Gaul after his father's death in 493. [6]
Theodemer's performance in history took place during an extremely unstable period of the Roman Empire. The western part of the empire was ruled by Honorius, known as a weak emperor. During his reign, rival generals made up the service. Claudianus tells us that magister militum Stilicho withdrew all Rhine troops to northern Italy in the winter of 401/402 to repel the rebel army of Alaric. [7] According to Roymans and Heijnen, he then granted Allied Frankish groups access to the area south of the Rhine and made them responsible for the defense of the border line. [8]
The Rhine crossing by barbarian peoples in 406 initiated a process that led to a weakening of Roman power in Gaul which gave usurpers such as Constantine III of Rome and Jovinus the opportunity to seize power. They received the support of Gallic elites and Frankish or Alanic foederati. [9] Leaders like Theodemer were active in this fragmented force field and considered to be a threat for the central government. Constantius III eventually made an end to the chaos, but many areas along the Rhine still remained semi-autonomous for a long time. It was not until 421 that Castinus campaign against the Franks and pacified the north of Gaul [10] and a few years later Aetius returned tot the north and waged war in 428. [11]
About 493 arrives Theodemer among his relatives south of the Rhine where he becomes captain of the Franks (Gregory calls him rex). Theodemer turns out to be a threat for the central government in Ravenna. As far as historians it can explain, his power was based on military support from the Frankish border troops and he also had political resources that could be labeled both Frankish and Roman. Theodemer possibly supported the usurper Jovinus (411-413) who was brought down by Constantius III. During a war against the Franks Theodemer and his mother fall into Roman hands and were murdered. [12] [1] Based on additional contemporary sources this was probably in 421 or 428. Given the tradition, it is assumed that Theodemer was the predecessor of Chlodio who is mentioned as his son in the Chronicle of Fredegar .
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