Pact of Theodomir

Cities of the Teodomiro pact, year 713.

The Pact of Teodomiro (also known as the Pact of Tudmir or Treaty of Orihuela) was a capitulation treaty signed on April 5 from the year 713, between Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa (son of Musa ibn Nusair, governor of North Africa) and the Visigothic potentate Teodomiro, who could have had administrative functions in the southeast of Hispania at the beginning of the century VIII.

Background

The expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate spread throughout the north-west of Africa to the Maghreb, inhabited by the Berbers. These peoples converted to Islam and joined the military ranks, allowing the Caliphate to extend its control to the Iberian Peninsula.

Under the rule of Musa ibn Nusair in the province of Ifriqiya, the Berber commander Táriq ibn Ziyad undertook the campaign towards Visigothic Iberia via the Strait of Gibraltar in the spring of 711. After defeating the Visigothic king Rodrigo in the battle of Guadalete, Táriq moved to the cities of Écija and Córdoba, ignoring orders he had previously received from Musa to return to Africa or remain stationed until further instructions. After controlling Andalusia, he headed for Toledo where Musa was waiting for him.

Shortly after Musa arrived in Toledo, Caliph Walid I ordered him and Táriq to appear at the royal court in Damascus to discuss the campaign in the Iberian Peninsula. Musa was relieved as governor by his son Abdelaziz, who headed towards the southeast of the peninsula and signed the treaty with the Visigoth Teodomiro, who was a Gothic potentate with properties in the territory of which he is supposed to have some kind of governmental function, since after the In 698, it repulsed a Byzantine fleet. The treaty is known as the Pact of Tudmir and the geographical region to the southeast of the peninsula has since been called Tudmir, giving its name decades later to a province or chora of Al-Andalus, the Cora of Tudmir.

Geographic scope

Three versions of the pact remain, since the original (from the year 713) was lost, and in each one the names of the cities vary a little. The first was made by al-Udri in the s. XI, later it would be that of al-Dabbi in the s. XII, another by al-Himyari in the s. XIII and the latest version is by al-Garnǎtǐ in the s. XIV.

Here is a comparative list:

This geographical area was named in the Ravenna Cosmographer in the VII century as province of Aurariola in a provincial description that might not fit the current administrative entities. It would come to occupy an area somewhat larger than the current provinces of Murcia and Alicante.

Of the cities named in the treaty, Orihuela (اوريولة, Ūriūla), Alicante (لقنت, Laqant), Lorca (لورقة, Lūrqa) and Mula (مولة, Mūla). From Ilŝ, which appears only in Al-Udri, it is certain that it referred to the Colonia Iulia Ilici Augusta in La Alcudia de Elche.

Since the diacritical punctuation of the Arabic letters does not appear in the codices, the rest of the cities that appear have had a diversity of readings and interpretations. Bqsra is usually interpreted as Begastri in Cehegín. As for Iyyih, its location is subject to controversy among various locations: Monte Arabí in Yecla, Anaya in San Miguel de Salinas, Ojós, Verdolay or Algezares in Murcia, the Tolmo de Minateda in Hellín, Villa Vieja in Cieza, or Elda; and also, many authors identify it with the episcopal city of Eio, which would appear to be located in El Monastil in Elda, or in Algezares.

Regarding Blntla, although the topography and archaeological remains could indicate that it was Valencia or Valencia la Vella in Ribarroja del Turia, it is not possible given its remote location from the rest of the cities, for For this reason, most of the interpretations place it in Villena; a city that would most likely correspond to the Balana (or Bilana) cited by Al-Himyari.

It is striking that there is no mention of the city of Cartagena. Cartagena was the metropolitan see, and also the capital of the Byzantine province of Spania, but between 621-623 it was destroyed by Suintila, which reduced its urban perimeter. In this way, scholars have justified the non-inclusion of Cartagena due to its little urban importance compared to the other urban centers mentioned in the treaty, but also because it had been conquered by combat, which excluded it from capitulation, or that it was not then part of the domains of Teodomiro but of the king.

It has generally been interpreted that the capital of Tudmir was Orihuela, but studies from the 1980s drew from texts from the 9th century , that the city of Tudmir could refer to the episcopal city of Eio that would be located in Algezares, and that it would be the one that was destroyed around 825 after the founding of the city of Murcia.

Theodomiro's Pact

The pact between Teodomiro and Abdelaziz was signed on April 5, 713 and its text is:

In the Name of Allah, the Clement, the Merciful. Edict of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusair to Tudmir ibn Abdush [Teodomiro, son of the gods]. The latter obtains peace and receives the promise, under the assurance of God and his prophet, that his situation and that of his people will not be altered; that their subjects will not be killed, made prisoners, or separated from their wives and children; that they will not be prevented from the practice of their religion, and that their churches will not be burned or dispossessed of the objects of worship that are fulfilled to them; all of them. Peace is granted with the delivery of the following cities: Uryula [Orihuela], Baltana, Laqant [Alicante], Mula, Villena, Lurqa [Lorca] and That. Moreover, it must not give asylum to anyone who flees from us or is our enemy; nor bring harm to anyone who flees from us or is our enemy; nor bring harm to anyone who enjoys our amnesty; nor hide any information about our enemies that may come to their knowledge. He and his subjects will pay an annual tribute, each person, of a dinar in metal, four measures of wheat, barley, grape juice and vinegar, two of honey and two of olive oil; for servants only one measure. Given in the month of Rayab, year 94 of the Hegira [713]. As witnesses, ‘Uthman ibn Abi’Abda, Habib ibn Abi ‘Ubaida, Idrís ibn Maisara and Abu l-Qasim al-Mazali.

Miranda García, Fermín; Guerrero Navarrete, Yolanda (2008). Medieval: Territories, Societies and Cultures. Silex Editions. p. 50. ISBN 9788477371793.

The act of the Moorish Embassy of Villena ends with the reading of the pact.

This treaty recognized Teodomiro, in exchange for his submission, the safeguarding of his properties and the government in the agreed territory, and also provided the Christian population with respect for their lives and their families, their properties and the religious cult, as long as they paid an annual personal tax in money (yizia) and another land tax in kind (jaray), and not collaborate with the enemies of Muslims. In this way the new Muslim power was guaranteed through Teodomiro from the collection of taxes.

End of Tudmir's reign

After the signing of the pact, there is a documentary silence about Teodomiro and his successor Atanagildo. The date of Teodomiro's death is unknown and by conjecture it can be established that he had already died in the year 743. Furthermore, there is no documents a relationship of kinship between Teodomiro and Atanagildo, but what appears is the economic power of Atanagildo. Al-Udri's reference to the marriage of a daughter of Teodomiro with an Arab jundi suggests that Teodomiro had no male issue.

Around 739 there was a Berber revolt in the Maghreb. The caliph commanded a Syrian army, which was defeated, and the remains of it settled in Al-Andalus to fight the Andalusian Berber revolt. Despite putting down the Berber revolt, disputes between Arab clans led to civil war in Al-Andalus, and it was not until 743 when the new Andalusian vali Abul Jatar stationed Syrian troops in militarized districts (yund), and the Egyptian jund was established in Tudmir. Teodomiro's pact had already come to an end. It is also at this time when the same value Abul Jatar imposed on Atanagildo a contribution of 27,000 sueldos (around 122 kilos of gold), which would be related to measures of regulation with the caliphal treasury in concept of unpaid taxes. The confluence of interests and understanding of the powerful Visigoths with recently installed yundíes is shown in that they helped Atanagildo to settle the debt. After this fact, it does not exist in the chronicles make any mention of Atanagildo.

Between 776-777, the pro-Ababasid revolt of Abd al-Rahman ibn Habid al-Siqlabi against Abderramán I took place in the region of Tudmir, for which he could have counted on the Egyptian Jundis. The emir's reaction in Tudmir was framed within a centralizing policy to suppress the political weight of the jundis. Scholars show divergent positions, while Chalmeta and Acién Almansa see the emir's campaign as the rupture of Teodomiro's treaty as a result of Atanagildo's support with al-Siqlabi, which on the other hand does not appear in written sources; Collins for his part indicates that the treaty had already ceased to apply at that time.