Vandals
The Vandals first entered the collapsing
Roman Empire in the winter of 409 AD,
when they crossed the frozen Rhine river with a group of Alans and Sueves.
They were taking advantage of a rebellion within the Empire which kept
the Romans from defending themselves well. The Vandals (with the Alans
and Sueves) slowly travelled south through Gaul (France), looting and
fighting as they went. When they reached the Pyrenees mountains that
separate France from Spain, they were actually invited into Spain by
one of the rebel leaders, in exchange for helping him with his rebellion.
After this rebellion failed, the Vandals were left on their own
in Spain. They took over the southern part of Spain in about 411 AD.
A Visigothic attack in 415 AD weakened them
but did not destroy them.
Why did people want to punch Socrates?
Where did Egyptians bury your liver?
How old are the Rocky Mountains?
What does a half-timbered house look like?
How do you spin wool?
(a project)
By 429 AD the Vandals decided to
move to Africa instead of Spain, and ferried all 80,000 of their
people across the Straits of Gibraltar in boats. Under their king Gaiseric,
the Vandals established a kingdom in Africa, which they used as a base
for piracy around the Mediterranean for a hundred years. They set up
an Arian church,
minted their own coins,
and had diplomatic relations with other Mediterranean kingdoms.
In 533, however, the Roman Emperor
Justinian sent his general Belisarius to reconquer Africa for Rome.
When Belisarius succeeded, that was the end of the Vandals.
The Romans
return to Africa
The Visigoths
Main Medieval History page
Main Middle Ages page
