Theodemir or Theodemar (Teodemiro; died 570) was one of the last Suevic kings of Galicia

Suebic Kingdom of Galicia

The Suebic Kingdom of Galicia was the first independent barbarian Christian kingdom of Western Europe and the first to separate from the Roman Empire, as well as the first one to mint coins. Based in Gallaecia, it was established in 410 and lasted as independent state until 584, after a century of...

 and one of the first Catholics

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...

. He succeeded Ariamir

Ariamir

Ariamir was the Suevic King of Galicia, with his capital at Bracara, from around 561, when he is mentioned by the bishops of the First Council of Braga as the king who summoned them and under whose auspices they deliberated...

 sometime between the end of May 561 and the year 566 and ruled until his death.

Theodemir has been posited as the first Orthodox Christian monarch of the Suevi since the death of Rechiar

Rechiar

Rechiar or Rechiarius was the Suevic King of Galicia from 448 until his death. He was the first Catholic Germanic king in Europe and one of the most innovative and belligerent of the Suevi monarchs...

 and the monarch who brought about the conversion of his people from Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

 to orthodoxy with the help of the missionary Martin of Dumio. This theory is largely based on the Historia Suevorum of Isidore of Seville

Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...

: regni potestatem Theodimirus suscepit: qui confestim Arrianae impietatis errore destructo Suevos catholicae fidei reddidit. However, other sources, notable John of Biclarum and Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours

Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...

, plus the minutes of the First Council of Braga

First Council of Braga

In the First Council of Braga of 561 eight bishops took part, and twenty-two decrees were promulgated, among others the following: that in the services of the church the same rite should be followed by all, and that on vigils and in solemn Masses the same lessons should be said by all; that bishops...

, give or imply different occurrences: John that Reccared I of the Visigoths brought about the conversion of both peoples, Gregory that the saintly intercession of Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...

 at the bequest of the king Chararic brought it about, and the minutes of First Braga that Ariamir was the first to ban to the holding of orthodox Catholic synods.

Most scholars have attempted to meld these stories. It has been alleged that Theodemir must have been a successor of Ariamir's, since Ariamir was the first Suevic monarch to lift the ban on Catholic synods; Isidore therefore gets the chronology wrong. Reinhart suggested that Chararic was converted first through the relics of Saint Martin and that Theodemir was converted later through the preaching of Martin of Dumio. Dahn equated Chararic with Theodemir, even saying that the latter was the name he took upon baptism. It has also been suggested that Theodemir and Ariamir were the same person and the son of Chararic. Ferreiro believes the conversion of the Suevi was progressive and stepwise and that Thoedemir was responsible for beginning a persecution of the Arians in his kingdom to root out their heresy.

In 569 Theodemir called the First Council of Lugo

First Council of Lugo

The Council of Lugo was a Catholic synod called by the Suevic King Theodemir in 569 in order to increase the number of dioceses within his kingdom...

, which increased the number of dioceses within the kingdom. In 570 he was attacked by the Arian king of the Visigoths, Leovigild.