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106-696: The history of Spain is marked by waves of conquerors who brought their distinct cultures to the peninsula. After the migration of the Vandals and Alans down the Mediterranean coast of Hispania from 408, the history of medieval Spain begins with the Iberian kingdom of the Arianist Visigoths (507–711), who were converted to Catholicism along with their king Reccared in 587. Visigothic culture in Spain can be seen as

212-652: A Roman-Suebi-Gothic coalition led by the Roman patrician Castinus at the Battle of Tarraco . It is likely that many Roman and Gothic troops deserted to Gunderic following the battle. For the next five years, according to Hydatius , Gunderic created widespread havoc in the western Mediterranean . In 425, the Vandals pillaged the Balearic Islands , Hispania and Mauritania , sacking Cartagena and Seville in 425. The capture of

318-599: A child. Amalaric was carried for safety into Spain , which country and Provence were thenceforth ruled by his maternal grandfather, Theodoric the Great , acting through his vice-regent, an Ostrogothic nobleman named Theudis . The older son, Gesalec , was chosen as king but his reign was disastrous. King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths sent an army, led by his sword-bearer Theudis , against Gesalec, ostensibly on behalf of Amalaric; Gesalec fled to Africa. The Ostrogoths then drove back

424-555: A considerable body of literature are Catalan (which had a relevant golden age of Valencian ), and to a lesser degree Aragonese . Asturian Medieval Spanish , Galician and Basque were primarily oral. Alfonso X commissioned a translation of an Arabic work on chess, dice and tables games called the Libro de los Juegos in 1283. The work contains information on the playing of chess , with over 100 chess problems and chess variants . The king also co-authored several works of music such as

530-616: A few years after the Battle of Guadalete (711), they gained a victory over Alqama in the Battle of Covadonga (718 or 722). Don Pelayo , or Pelagius, the Gothic chieftain who was victor at Covadonga, was acclaimed king, and took up his residence at Cangas de Onís . His son Favila was killed while hunting, torn to pieces by a bear, and was succeeded by Alfonso I , son-in-law of Don Pelayo, who expanded his kingdom as far as Galicia and Tierra de Campos (the "Gothic Fields" or Campos Góticos). Fruela I (757 – came to power) founded Oviedo . He

636-702: A large group of tribes between the Vistula and the Oder. Strabo and Ptolemy do not mention the Vandals at all, only the Lugii, Tacitus mentions them in a passage about the ancestry of the Germanic peoples without saying where they lived, and Pliny the Elder in contrast mentions the Vandals but not the Lugii. Walter Pohl and Walter Goffart have noted that Ptolemy seems to distinguish the Silingi from

742-629: A large part of the Vandal army and navy was led by Tzazo , Gelimer's brother, to Sardinia to deal with a rebellion. As a result, the armies of the Byzantine Empire commanded by Belisarius were able to land unopposed 10 miles (16 km) from Carthage. Gelimer quickly assembled an army, and met Belisarius at the Battle of Ad Decimum ; the Vandals were winning the battle until Gelimer's brother Ammatas and nephew Gibamund fell in battle. Gelimer then lost heart and fled. Belisarius quickly took Carthage while

848-633: A phenomenon of Late Antiquity as much as part of the Age of Migrations . From Northern Africa in 711, the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate crossed into Spain, at the invitation of a Visigothic clan to assist it in rising against King Roderic . Over the period 711–788, the Umayyads conquered most of the lands of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania and established the territory known as Al-Andalus . A revolt during

954-640: A surprise attack by Western Emperor Majorian at the mouth of the Garigliano river. As a result of the Vandal sack of Rome and piracy in the Mediterranean , it became important to the Roman Empire to destroy the Vandal kingdom. In 460, Majorian launched an expedition against the Vandals, but was defeated at the Battle of Cartagena . In 468 the Western and Eastern Roman empires launched an enormous expedition against

1060-435: A towel stained with her own blood. Ian Wood noted that although Gregory provides the fullest information for this period, where it touches Merovingian affairs, he often "allowed his religious bias to determine his interpretation of the events." Peter Heather agrees with Wood's implication in this instance: "I doubt that this is the full story, but the effects of Frankish intervention are clear enough." Childebert defeated

1166-667: Is known about the Vandalic language itself, but it is believed to be of the extinct East Germanic linguistic branch, like Gothic. The Goths left behind the only text corpus of the East Germanic language type, especially a 4th-century translation of the Gospels. In the 2nd century, two or three distinct Vandal peoples came to the attention of Roman authors, the Silingi , the Hasdingi , and possibly

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1272-706: The Alans got lands in Lusitania (West) and the region around Carthago Nova . The Suebi also controlled part of Gallaecia . The Visigoths , who invaded Iberia on the orders of the Romans before receiving lands in Septimania (Southern France), crushed the Silingi Vandals in 417 and the Alans in 418, killing the western Alan king Attaces . The remainder of his people and the remnants of

1378-461: The Arian Vandals and their Trinitarian subjects (including both Catholics and Donatists ) were a constant source of tension in their African state. Catholic bishops were exiled or killed by Genseric and laymen were excluded from office and frequently suffered confiscation of their property. He protected his Catholic subjects when his relations with Rome and Constantinople were friendly, as during

1484-425: The Battle of Vouillé (507), his kingdom fell into disarray. "More serious than the destruction of the Gothic army," writes Herwig Wolfram , "than the loss of both Aquitanian provinces and the capital of Toulose , was the death of the king." Alaric had made no provision for a successor, and although he had two sons, one was of age but illegitimate and the other, Amalaric, the offspring of a legal marriage but still

1590-629: The Burgundiones , Varini , Carini (otherwise unknown), and the Gutones . Tacitus mentioned the Vandilii , but only in a passage explaining legends about the origins of the Germanic peoples. He names them as one of the groups sometimes thought to be one of the oldest divisions of these peoples, along with the Marsi , Gambrivii , Suebi but does not say where they live, or which peoples are within this category. On

1696-617: The Cantigas d'escarnio e maldicer and the Cantigas de Santa Maria in Galician-Portuguese . The latter contains more than 400 poems alongside musical notation, and currently forms one of the largest collections of songs to have survived from the Middle Ages . Medieval Spain was as much as a network of cities as it was interconnected provinces. Cities were cultural and administrative centers,

1802-589: The Goths , nor Norsemen (early Scandinavians), were counted among the Germani by the Romans. Since the Vandals spoke a Germanic language (mainly: Vandalic ) and belonged to early Germanic culture , they are classified as a Germanic people by modern scholars. The earliest mention of the Vandals is from Pliny the Elder , who used the term Vandili in a broad way to define one of the major groupings of all Germanic peoples . Tribes within this category who he mentions are

1908-678: The Huns in their rear, hurled themselves for the first time upon the Pyrenean Peninsula – the Alani , a people of Scythian, or Tatar, race; the Vandals and Suebians , Germanic races. The Alani were, for the most part, quickly brought into subjection. The Vandals, after establishing themselves in Baetica , to which they gave the name of Vandalusia (Andalusia), passed on into Africa, while the Visigoths hemmed in

2014-689: The Italian wars which were not to end until the 18th century. Meanwhile, the Reconquest languished in Castile; at first, because of the candidacy of Alfonso X for the crown of the Holy Roman Empire , in which candidacy he had secured a majority of the electoral princes. This was followed by a disputed succession to the throne, the rival claimants being the Cerda heirs (sons of Fernando , the eldest son of Alfonso X) and

2120-823: The Lacringi , who appear together with the Hasdingi. Only the Silingi had been mentioned in early Roman works, and are associated with Silesia . These peoples appeared during the Marcomannic Wars , which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period. During the Marcomannic Wars (166–180) the Hasdingi (or Astingi), led by the kings Raus and Rapt (or Rhaus and Raptus) moved south, entering Dacia as allies of Rome. However they eventually caused problems in Dacia and moved further south, towards

2226-570: The Lech , and sent many of them to Britain. During this same period, the 11th panegyric to Maximian delivered in 291, reported two different conflicts outside the empire wherein Burgundians were associated with Alamanni , and other Vandals, probably Hasdingi in the Carpathian region, were associated with Gepids . According to Jordanes ' Getica , the Hasdingi came into conflict with the Goths around

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2332-557: The Marcomannic Wars and to Pannonia during the Crisis of the Third Century , the Vandals were confined to Pannonia by the Goths around 330 AD, where they received permission to settle from Constantine the Great . Around 400, raids by the Huns from the east forced many Germanic tribes to migrate west into the territory of the Roman Empire and, fearing that they might be targeted next,

2438-699: The Mediterranean Sea . The Germanic mythological figure of Aurvandill has been interpreted by Rudolf Much to mean 'Shining Vandal'. Much forwarded the theory that the tribal name Vandal reflects worship of Aurvandil or the Divine Twins , possibly involving an origin myth that the Vandalic kings were descended from Aurvandil (comparable to the case of many other Germanic tribal names ). Some medieval authors equated two classical ethnonyms, "Vandals" and Veneti , and applied both to West Slavs , leading to

2544-640: The Strait of Gibraltar , engaging a Visigothic force led by King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete in a moment of serious in-fighting and division across the Visigothic Kingdom . Muslims ruled Spain for most of the Middle Ages. They first took control of Spain in 711. Led by General Tariq, they defeated the Visigoth Kingdom. Muslim control was concentrated in southern Spain. Most Muslim rule occurred under

2650-657: The final acts of the Reconquista in the capitulation of the Nasrid Emirate of Granada and the Alhambra decree ordering the expulsion of the Jews . Early modern Spain was first united as an institution in the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as Charles I of Spain. When the Germanic tribes invaded the provinces of the Roman Empire, the hordes, urged forward by the pressure of

2756-621: The "barbarian" defacing of artwork. However, some modern historians have emphasised the role of Vandals as continuators of aspects of Roman culture , in the transitional period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages . The ethnonym is attested as Wandali and Wendilenses by Saxo , as Vendill in Old Norse , and as Wend(e)las in Old English , all going back to a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as * Wanđilaz . The etymology of

2862-627: The African province, and sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–534, in which Emperor Justinian I 's forces reconquered the province for the Eastern Roman Empire . As the Vandals plundered Rome for fourteen days, Renaissance and early-modern writers characterized the Vandals as prototypical barbarians . This led to the use of the term " vandalism " to describe any pointless destruction, particularly

2968-618: The Catholic, fell in the Battle of Muret (1213), defending his Albigensian kinsmen against Simon de Montfort , whom Innocent III had sent against them. His son, James I, the Conqueror , completed the Catalan-Aragónese Reconquest, winning Majorca (1228) and Valencia (1238) besides helping his son-in-law, Alfonso X , to complete the conquest of Murcia . His son and successor gave new direction to Catalan-Aragónese policy by enforcing

3074-536: The Catholics and ceased persecution once more. Externally, the Vandal power had been declining since Genseric's death, and Gunthamund lost early in his reign all but a small wedge of western Sicily to the Ostrogoths which was lost in 491 and had to withstand increasing pressure from the autochthonous Moors . According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia : "While Thrasamund (496–523), owing to his religious fanaticism,

3180-514: The Celtic Lugii and their more Germanic successors the Vandals. In archaeology, the Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture, but the culture probably extended over several central and eastern European peoples. Their origin, ethnicity and linguistic affiliation are heavily debated. The bearers of the Przeworsk culture mainly practiced cremation and occasionally inhumation. Very little

3286-672: The Danube without much difficulty, but when they reached the Rhine, they met resistance from the Franks , who populated and controlled Romanized regions in northern Gaul . According to the Frigeridus fragment cited by Gregory of Tours , around 20,000 Vandals, including Godigisel himself, died in this Vandal-Frankish war , but then with the help of the Alans they managed to defeat the Franks, and on December 31, 405

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3392-454: The Duchies of Athens and Neopatras (1313). The royal line of Aragón became extinct with Martin the Humane , and the Compromise of Caspe gave the Crown to the dynasty of Castile, thus preparing the final union. Alfonso V, the Magnanimous , once more turned Aragonese policy to the direction of Italy, where he possessed the Kingdom of Sicily and acquired that of Naples by having himself made adoptive son of Queen Joanna. With these events began

3498-545: The Franks and their Burgundian allies, regaining possession of "the south of Novempopulana , Rodez , probably even Albi , and even Toulose". Following the 511 death of Clovis, Theodoric negotiated a peace with Clovis' successors, securing Visigothic control of the southernmost portion of Gaul for the rest of the existence of their kingdom. In 522, the young Amalaric was proclaimed king, and four years later, on Theodoric's death, he assumed full royal power, although relinquishing Provence to his cousin Athalaric . His kingdom

3604-437: The Great (in about 330) granted them lands on the right bank of the Danube, they lived for the next sixty years. In the late 4th century and early 5th, the famous magister militum Stilicho (died 408), the chief minister of the Emperor Honorius , was described as being of Vandal descent. Vandals raided the Roman province of Raetia in the winter of 401/402. From this, historian Peter Heather concludes that at this time

3710-401: The Lugii, and in the 2nd century the Hasdings, when they appear in the Roman record, are also distinguished from the Lugii. Herwig Wolfram notes that "In all likelihood the Lugians and the Vandals were one cultic community that lived in the same region of the Oder in Silesia, where it was first under Celtic and then under Germanic domination." This may account for the differentiation between

3816-473: The Muslims in 711. This sparked the Reconquista, the Christian's attempt to reclaim Spain from the Muslims. This would last from 711 to 1492. The first crucial victory that the Christians claimed was the overtaking of Toledo by King Alfonso VI. They slowly imposed their will and completed the Reconquista with a victory at Grenada. The fugitive Goths found a retreat in those mountains where the Romans had never been able to effectively establish their authority; only

3922-411: The Oder. The Hasdingi, who later led the invasion of Carthage, do not appear in written records until the 2nd century and the time of the Marcomannic wars. The Lacringi appear in 3rd century records. The Lugii, who were also mentioned in early classical sources in the same region, are likely to have been the same people as the Vandals. The Lugii are mentioned by Strabo , Tacitus and Ptolemy as

4028-428: The Portuguese Crown went to the Master of Aviz, who became John I of Portugal . Henry III , who married Catherine of Lancaster , was the first to take the title of Prince of Asturias as heir to the Crown, which he inherited during his minority, as did his son, John II . In the post-Roman period before 711, the history of the Spanish language began with Old Spanish ; the other Latin-derived Hispanic languages with

4134-555: The Reconquest was Aragón; the other two, Navarre and Catalonia, were placed by the circumstances of their origin in peculiar relations with France. The Basques on either side of the Western Pyrenees dissatisfied with Frankish rule, rebelled on several occasions. At Roncevaux they annihilated the forces of Charlemagne, and in 824 another victory secured the independence of the Basques of Pamplona. The names and dates of their kings, or chieftains, are very uncertain until we come to Sancho II, Abarca . He abdicated in favour of his son, García II,

4240-422: The Romans and Franks, in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains , where Attila was routed. Euric (466), who put an end to the last remnants of Roman power in the peninsula, may be considered the first monarch of Spain, though the Suebians still maintained their independence in Galicia. Euric was also the first king to give written laws to the Visigoths. In the following reigns the Catholic kings of France assumed

4346-438: The Silingi, who were nearly wiped out, subsequently appealed to the Vandal king Gunderic to accept the Alan crown. Later Vandal kings in North Africa styled themselves Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum ("King of the Vandals and Alans"). In 419 AD the Hasdingi Vandals were defeated by a joint Roman-Suebi coalition. Gunderic fled to Baetica , where he was also proclaimed king of the Silingi Vandals. In 422, Gunderic decisively defeated

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4452-720: The Strong despoiled his brothers and restored the kingdom to unity. But Alfonso VII separated Castile and León, leaving the former to his son Sancho , and the latter to Ferdinand I. Another result of feudal customs being introduced by the Burgundian princes was the separation of Portugal. For Alfonso VI gave his daughters Urraca and Teresa in marriage to Raymond of Burgundy and Henry of Burgundy respectively who founded two dynasties: that of Portugal, and that of Castile and León, which began with Alfonso VII . The Kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia, León, and Castile were united under Ferdinand III , heir of León through his father Alfonso IX , and of Castile through his mother Berengaria . In

4558-410: The Suebi in Galicia until the latter were completely brought under control. These Visigoths, or Western Goths, after sacking Rome under the leadership of Alaric (410), turned towards the Iberian Peninsula , with Athaulf for their leader, and occupied the northeastern portion. Wallia extended his rule over most of the peninsula, keeping the Suebians shut up in Galicia. Theodoric I took part, with

4664-454: The Trembler , in whose time the Leónese and Navarrese together were routed at Valdejunquera . Sancho III, the Great , was one of the monarchs who most influenced Spanish history; he was eventually King of Navarre, Castile, Aragón, and Sobrarbe. At his death (1035) he divided his kingdoms, giving Navarre to his eldest son García, Castile, with the title of King, to Fernando, Aragón to Ramiro, and Sobrarbe to Gonzálo. Several difficulties stood in

4770-421: The Umayyad Dynasty, which lasted from 756 to 1031. This period was the most stable and prosperous for the Muslims in Spain. The culture at this time was progressing very positively. Education was valued heavily, with many colleges and libraries being built. The downfall of Islamic rule in Spain was due to many factors. This included the hostility from the neighboring Christian states along with Muslim rulers not on

4876-399: The Vandal rule of North Africa was a time of economic instability. When the Vandals raided Sicily in 440, the Western Roman Empire was too preoccupied with war with Gaul to react. Theodosius II, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, dispatched an expedition to deal with the Vandals in 441; however, it only progressed as far as Sicily. The Western Empire under Valentinian III secured peace with

4982-449: The Vandals crossed the Rhine , probably while it was frozen, to invade Gaul, which they devastated terribly. Under Godigisel's son Gunderic , the Vandals plundered their way westward and southward through Aquitaine . On October 13, 409 they crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian peninsula . There, the Hasdingi received land from the Romans, as foederati , in Asturia (Northwest) and the Silingi in Hispania Baetica (South), while

5088-442: The Vandals and Alans numbered 80,000 when they moved to North Africa, Peter Heather estimates that they could have fielded an army of around 15,000–20,000. According to Procopius, the Vandals came to Africa at the request of Bonifacius , the military ruler of the region. Seeking to establish himself as an independent ruler in Africa or even become Roman Emperor, Bonifacius had defeated several Roman attempts to subdue him, until he

5194-455: The Vandals and Burgundians, transferred many of them to Britain. It is unknown where they were settled, though Silchester seems to be a likely candidate. The city bears the name of the Silingi, is only one of six that existed in Roman Britain that did not survive the Sub-Roman era, and appears to have been ritually cursed – likely by the Anglo-Saxons – before being abandoned. In 405 AD the Vandals advanced from Pannonia travelling west along

5300-404: The Vandals departed Spain which remained almost totally in Roman hands until 439, when the Sueves, confined to Gallaecia moved south and captured Emerita Augusta (Mérida), the see city of Roman administration for the whole peninsula. Genseric is often regarded by historians as the most able barbarian leader of the Migration Period. Michael Frassetto writes that he probably contributed more to

5406-427: The Vandals in 442. Under the treaty the Vandals gained Byzacena , Tripolitania , and the eastern half of Numidia, and were confirmed in control of Proconsular Africa as well as the Vandal Kingdom as the first barbarian kingdom was officially recognized as an independent kingdom in former Roman territory instead of foederati . The Empire retained western Numidia and the two Mauretanian provinces until 455. During

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5512-413: The Vandals into the fold of the Empire, Valentinian III offered his daughter's hand in marriage to Genseric's son. Before this treaty could be carried out, however, politics again played a crucial part in the blunders of Rome. Petronius Maximus killed Valentinian III and claimed the Western throne. Petronius then forced Valentinian III's widow, empress Licinia Eudoxia , to marry him. Diplomacy between

5618-405: The Vandals took 500 hostages at Zakynthos , hacked them to pieces and threw the pieces overboard on the way to Carthage. In 469 the Vandals gained control of Sicily but were forced by Odoacer to relinquish it in 477 except for the western port of Lilybaeum (lost in 491 after a failed attempt on their part to re-take the island). In the 470s, the Romans abandoned their policy of war against

5724-424: The Vandals under the command of Basiliscus , which reportedly was composed of 100,000 soldiers and 1,000 ships. The Vandals defeated the invaders at the Battle of Cap Bon , capturing the Western fleet, and destroying the Eastern through the use of fire ships . Following up the attack, the Vandals tried to invade the Peloponnese , but were driven back by the Maniots at Kenipolis with heavy losses. In retaliation,

5830-463: The Vandals were also pushed westwards, crossing the Rhine into Gaul along with other tribes in 406. In 409, the Vandals crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula , where the Hasdingi and the Silingi settled in Gallaecia (northwest Iberia) and Baetica (south-central Iberia). On the orders of the Romans, the Visigoths invaded Iberia in 418. They almost wiped out the Alans and Silingi Vandals who voluntarily subjected themselves to

5936-437: The Vandals were located in the region around the Middle and Upper Danube. It is possible that such Middle Danubian Vandals were part of the Gothic king Radagaisus ' invasion of Italy in 405–406 AD. While the Hasdingian Vandals were already established in the Middle Danube for centuries, it is less clear where the Silingian Vandals had been living though it may have been in Silesia . In AD 278, Emperor Probus on defeating

6042-400: The Vandals. The Western general Ricimer reached a treaty with them, and in 476 Genseric was able to conclude a "perpetual peace" with Constantinople. Relations between the two states assumed a veneer of normality. From 477 onwards, the Vandals produced their own coinage, restricted to bronze and silver low-denomination coins. The high-denomination imperial money was retained, demonstrating in

6148-439: The Visigothic army and took Narbonne . Amalaric fled south to Barcelona , where according to Isidore of Seville , he was assassinated by his own men. According to Peter Heather, Theodoric's former governor Theudis was implicated in Amalaric's murder, "and was certainly its prime beneficiary." As for Chrotilda, in Gregory's words, she died on the journey home "by some ill chance". Childebert had her body brought to Paris where she

6254-405: The conquest established the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in the north of Spain. Much of the period is marked by conflict between the Muslim and Christian states of Spain, referred to as the Reconquista , or the Reconquest (i.e., The Christians "reconquering" their lands as a religious crusade). The border between Muslim and Christian lands wavered southward through 700 years of war, which marked

6360-415: The destruction of Rome than any of his contemporaries. Although the barbarians controlled Hispania, they still comprised a tiny minority among a much larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000. Shortly after seizing the throne, Genseric was attacked from the rear by a large force of Suebi under the command of Heremigarius who had managed to take Lusitania . This Suebi army

6466-547: The dynasty of Sancho the Elder became extinct, the Crown passed in succession to the houses of Blois (1234) of France, and of Évreux (1349–1441), with the result that Navarre, until the 15th century, lived in much closer relations with the French monarchy than with the Spanish states. On the other hand, the feudal system introduced in the western kingdoms by the House of Navarre brought about repeated partitions of states. Ferdinand I divided his kingdom into five parts, Castile, León, Galicia, Zamora, and Toro, though his son Sancho

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6572-417: The expense of royal power. The demands of the nobles increased in the reign of Alfonso III , who was forced to confirm to them the famous Privilegio de la Union. James II became reconciled with the Holy See, accepting Corsica and Sardinia in lieu of Sicily. Peter IV, the Ceremonious, defeated the nobles at Epila (1348) and used his dagger to cut in pieces the charter they had extorted from his predecessors. In

6678-456: The fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal kingdoms first within the Iberian Peninsula , and then in the western Mediterranean islands , and North Africa . Archaeologists associate the early Vandals with the Przeworsk culture , which has led to some authors equating them to the Lugii , who were another group of Germanic peoples associated with that same archaeological culture and region. Expanding into Dacia during

6784-422: The first capital of the Vandal kingdom. The Romans and the Vandals concluded a treaty in 435 giving the Vandals control of the Mauretania and the western half of Numidia. Genseric chose to break the treaty in 439 when he invaded the province of Africa Proconsularis and seized Carthage on October 19. The city was captured without a fight; the Vandals entered the city while most of the inhabitants were attending

6890-420: The great age of around 88 years. According to the law of succession which he had promulgated, the oldest male member of the royal house was to succeed. Thus he was succeeded by his son Huneric (477–484), who at first tolerated Catholics, owing to his fear of Constantinople, but after 482 began to persecute Manichaeans and Catholics." Gunthamund (484–496), his cousin and successor, sought internal peace with

6996-425: The late Germanic Iron Age leading up to the Viking Age . The connection is considered tenuous at best and more plausibly the result of chance, though Scandinavia is considered the probable homeland of the tribe prior to the Migration Period . As the Vandals eventually came to live outside of Germania , they were not considered Germani by ancient Roman authors. Neither another East Germanic -speaking group,

7102-417: The lower Danube area. Together with the Hasdingi were the Lacringi, who were possibly also Vandals. In about 271 AD the Roman Emperor Aurelian was obliged to protect the middle course of the Danube against Vandals. They made peace and stayed on the eastern bank of the Danube. In 278, Zosimus reported that emperor Probus had defeated the Vandals and Burgundians near a river (sometimes proposed to be

7208-399: The maritime city of Cartagena enabled the Vandals to engage in widespread naval activities. In 428 Gunderic captured Seville for a second time but died while laying siege to the city's church. He was succeeded by his half-brother Genseric , who although he was illegitimate (his mother was a slave) had held a prominent position at the Vandal court, rising to the throne unchallenged. In 429,

7314-445: The meantime, the Catalans and Aragónese who were left in Sicily offered themselves to Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to fight the Turks . Having conquered them, they turned their arms against the Greeks, who treacherously slew their leaders; but for this treachery the Spaniards, under Bernard of Rocafort and Berenguer of Entenca, exacted the terrible penalty which is celebrated in history as "The Catalan Vengeance" and moreover seized

7420-539: The name remains unclear. According to linguist Vladimir Orel , it may stem from the Proto-Germanic adjective * wanđaz ('turned, twisted'), itself derived from the verb * wenđanan (or *winđanan ), meaning 'to wind'. Alternatively, it has been derived from a root * wanđ- , meaning 'water', based on the idea that the tribe was originally located near the Limfjord (a sea inlet in Denmark). The stem can also be found in Old High German wentilsēo and Old English wendelsǣ , both literally meaning 'Vandal-sea' and designating

7526-456: The next thirty-five years, with a large fleet, Genseric looted the coasts of the Eastern and Western Empires. Vandal activity in the Mediterranean was so substantial that the sea's name in Old English was Wendelsæ (i. e. Sea of the Vandals). After Attila the Hun 's death, however, the Romans could afford to turn their attention back to the Vandals, who were in control of some of the richest lands of their former empire. In an effort to bring

7632-498: The other hand, Tacitus and Ptolemy give information about the position of Varini, Burgundians, and Gutones in this period, and these indications suggest that the Vandals in this period lived between the Oder and Vistula rivers. Ptolemy furthermore mentioned the Silingi who were later counted as Vandals, as living south of the Semnones , who were Suebians living on the Elbe, and stretching to

7738-613: The peninsula as a militarily contested space. The medieval centuries also witnessed episodes of warfare between Spain's Christian states and between the Muslim taifas , successor states of the Caliphate of Cordoba . Wars between the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile were sparked by dynastic rivalries or disagreements over tracts of land conquered or to be conquered from the Muslim south. The Middle Ages in Spain are often said to end in 1492 with

7844-499: The peninsula, subduing the Suebians, but the religious divisions of the country, reaching even the royal family, brought on a civil war. St. Hermengild , the king's son, putting himself at the head of the Catholics, was defeated and taken prisoner, and suffered martyrdom for rejecting communion with the Arians. Reccared , son of Liuvigild and brother of St. Hermengild, added religious unity to

7950-535: The political unity achieved by his father, accepting the Catholic faith in the Third Council of Toledo (589). Sisebut and Suintila completed the expulsion of the Byzantines from Spain. Chindasuinth and Recceswinth laboured for legislative unity, and legalized marriages, hitherto prohibited, between Goths and Latins. In 711, North African Berber soldiers with some Arabs commanded by Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed

8056-543: The pope's influence saved Rome is, however, questioned. The Vandals departed with countless valuables. Eudoxia and her daughter Eudocia were taken to North Africa. In 456 a Vandal fleet of 60 ships threatening both Gaul and Italy was ambushed and defeated at Agrigentum and Corsica by the Western Roman general Ricimer . In 457 a mixed Vandal-Berber army returning with loot from a raid in Campania were soundly defeated in

8162-527: The pope. The former purpose he failed to accomplish; the latter occasioned him a great deal of trouble, as the Aragónese nobles refused to recognize the position of vassalage to the Holy See in which Peter had placed his kingdom. These nobles then forced for the first time the union, which was the cause of such serious disturbances until Peter IV with his dagger cut in pieces the document which recorded it. Peter II

8268-527: The primary religion in North Africa. Generally most Vandal kings, except Hilderic , persecuted Trinitarian Christians to a greater or lesser extent, banning conversion for Vandals, exiling bishops and generally making life difficult for Trinitarians. According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia : "Genseric, one of the most powerful personalities of the "era of the Migrations", died on 25 January 477, at

8374-476: The races at the hippodrome. Genseric made it his capital, and styled himself the King of the Vandals and Alans , to denote the inclusion of the Alans of northern Africa into his alliance. His forces also occupied Sardinia , Corsica and the Balearic Islands . His siege of Palermo in 440 was a failure as was the second attempt to invade Sicily near Agrigento in 442 (the Vandals occupied the island from 468 to 476 when it

8480-569: The reign of Ordoño I . They were faced with an army led by Don Pedro who dispersed them and destroyed 38 of their ships. Alfonso III, the Great , continued the forays as far as the Sierra Morena, and founded Burgos, the future capital of Castile. His sons rebelled against him, and he abdicated the crown, dividing his dominions among them. With him ended the Kingdom of Asturias, the territory of which soon became subject to León. Another rallying-point of

8586-667: The rights of his wife, Constance , to the kingdoms of Sicily and Naples . Profiting by the rising of the Sicilian Vespers against the Angevins (1282), he gained Sicily and attacked Naples. This conquest, however, placed the kings of Aragón in a position of antagonism with the popes, who defended the rights of the House of Anjou. Martin IV , having excommunicated Peter III , led the Aragónese nobles to take advantage in extending their privileges at

8692-630: The role of protectors of the Hispano-Roman Catholics against the Arianism of the Visigoths, and in the wars which ensued Alaric II and Amalaric lost their lives. Athanagild , having risen against King Agila , called in the Byzantine Greeks and, in payment for the succour they gave him, ceded to them the maritime places of the southeast (554). Liuvigild restored the political unity of

8798-448: The royal family led a revolt, raising the banner of national Arianism, and his cousin Gelimer (530–534) became king. Hilderic, Hoamer and their relatives were thrown into prison. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I declared war, with the stated intention of restoring Hilderic to the Vandal throne. The deposed Hilderic was murdered in 533 on Gelimer's orders. While an expedition was en route,

8904-475: The rule of Hasdingian leader Gunderic . Gunderic was then pushed from Gallaecia to Baetica by a Roman- Suebi coalition in 419. In 429, under king Genseric (reigned 428–477), the Vandals entered North Africa . By 439 they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily , Corsica , Sardinia , Malta and the Balearic Islands . They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture

9010-633: The same page. The first big loss for the Muslims was Toledo in 1085. Muslim rule slowly declined until 1492 when they had essentially zero power. The Christians were now in charge of this land and forced all Muslims to convert to Christianity. The Christian Roman Empire fell to the Visigoths in 410. However, the Visigoths converted to Arian Christianity in 419. In 589 the king of the Visigoths Reccared converted to Roman Catholicism restoring things to Spain's prior identity. The Christians were then overtaken by

9116-529: The same way Catalonia and Aragón were united by the marriage of Ramón Berenguer with Doña Petronila , daughter of Ramiro the Monk, of Aragón. The kingdom formed by the union of Aragón and Catalonia was the first to complete the Reconquest in their regional area, they then directed their strength eastward. Peter II the Catholic , sovereign of Aragón and Catalonia, went to Rome to seek the annulment of his marriage with Maria of Montpellier and to have himself crowned by

9222-405: The seats of bishops and sometimes kings, with markets and housing expanding from a central fortified stronghold. Medieval Spanish history can easily be followed through these major cities: Vandal#In Hispania The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland , during the period of the Roman empire . Much later, in

9328-493: The second son of Sancho IV . Later, Ferdinand IV succeeded to the throne at the age of nine, being under the tutelage of his mother María de Molina . Alfonso XI was little more than one year old when his father died (1312); and though his reign was in many respects glorious, and he overcame the Marinids in the Battle of Río Salado (1340), still his relationship with Eleanor de Guzmán , by whom he had several children, resulted in

9434-402: The siege of Hippo Regius, which enabled Bonifacius to retreat from Hippo Regius to Carthage , where he was joined by Aspar's army. During the summer of 432, Genseric soundly defeated the joint forces of both Bonifacius and Aspar, which enabled him to seize Hippo Regius unopposed. Genseric and Aspar subsequently negotiated a peace treaty of some sorts. Upon seizing Hippo Regius, Genseric made it

9540-408: The surviving Vandals fought on. Amalaric Amalaric ( Gothic : 𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, Amalareiks ; Spanish and Portuguese : Amalarico ; 502–531) was king of the Visigoths from 522 until his assassination. He was a son of king Alaric II and his first wife Theodegotha , daughter of Theodoric the Great . When Alaric II was killed while fighting Clovis I , king of the Franks , in

9646-558: The term Wends , which has been used for various Slavic-speaking groups and is still used for Lusatians . However, modern scholars derive "Wend" from "Veneti", and do not equate the Veneti and Vandals. The name of the Vandals has been connected to that of Vendel , the name of a province in Uppland , Sweden, which is also eponymous of the Vendel Period of Swedish prehistory, corresponding to

9752-712: The time of Constantine the Great . At the time, these Vandals were living in lands later inhabited by the Gepids , where they were surrounded "on the east [by] the Goths, on the west [by] the Marcomanni , on the north [by] the Hermanduri and on the south [by] the Hister ( Danube )." The Vandals were attacked by the Gothic king Geberic , and their king Visimar was killed. The Vandals then migrated to neighbouring Pannonia , where, after Constantine

9858-498: The two factions broke down, and in 455 with a letter from Licinia Eudoxia, begging Genseric's son to rescue her, the Vandals took Rome, along with the Empress and her daughters Eudocia and Placidia . The chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine offers the only fifth-century report that, on 2 June 455, Pope Leo the Great received Genseric and implored him to abstain from murder and destruction by fire, and to be satisfied with pillage. Whether

9964-526: The wars of the following reign, that of Pedro the Cruel, who was at last slain by his bastard brother, Henry of Trastámara, and succeeded on the throne as Henry II . John I , who married Beatrice of Portugal (1383), sought to unite the two kingdoms on the death of Ferdinand , the last King of Portugal of the Burgundian line. The Portuguese, however, defeated John of Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385), and

10070-461: The way to the union of the various states formed in Spain by the Reconquest. Navarre and Catalonia were in particularly close contact with France, and the marriage of Ramón Berenguer the Great with Dulcia, heiress of Provence, made the relations between the peoples of the langue d'oc so close that the subsequent development of Catalonia was connected rather with that of the South of France. In Navarre, when

10176-741: The wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. The death of Augustine shocked the Regent of the Western Roman Empire , Galla Placidia , who feared the consequences if her realm lost its most important source of grain. She raised a new army in Italy and convinced her nephew in Constantinople , the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II , to send an army to North Africa led by Aspar . Around July–August 431, Genseric raised

10282-506: The words of Merrills "reluctance to usurp the imperial prerogative". Although the Vandals had fended off attacks from the Romans and established hegemony over the islands of the western Mediterranean, they were less successful in their conflict with the Berbers . Situated south of the Vandal kingdom, the Berbers inflicted two major defeats on the Vandals in the period 496–530. Differences between

10388-418: The years 454–457, when the Catholic community at Carthage, being without a head, elected Deogratias bishop. The same was also the case during the years 476–477 when Bishop Victor of Cartenna sent him, during a period of peace, a sharp refutation of Arianism and suffered no punishment. Huneric, Genseric's successor, issued edicts against Catholics in 483 and 484 in an effort to marginalise them and make Arianism

10494-565: Was defeated near Mérida and its leader Hermigarius drowned in the Guadiana River while trying to flee. It is possible that the name Al-Andalus (and its derivative Andalusia ) is derived from the Arabic adoption of the name of the Vandals. The Vandals under Genseric (also known as Geiseric) crossed to Africa in 429 . Although numbers are unknown and some historians debate the validity of estimates, based on Procopius' assertion that

10600-715: Was assassinated, and was succeeded by several kings ( Aurelius , Silo , Mauregato , and Bermudo I, the Deacon ) and at last Alfonso II, the Chaste , who set up his court at Oviedo, recommenced the great expeditions against the Muslims, and seems to have invited Charlemagne to come to Asturias, thus occasioning the Frankish monarch's expedition which ended in the disaster of Roncevaux . The Vikings invaded Galicia in 844 but were expelled by Ramiro I from A Coruña ; 70 Viking ships were captured and burned. Vikings returned to Galicia in 859, during

10706-494: Was ceded to Odovacer). Historian Cameron suggests that the new Vandal rule may not have been unwelcomed by the population of North Africa as the great landowners were generally unpopular. The impression given by ancient sources such as Victor of Vita , Quodvultdeus , and Fulgentius of Ruspe was that the Vandal take-over of Carthage and North Africa led to widespread destruction. However, recent archaeological investigations have challenged this assertion. Although Carthage's Odeon

10812-453: Was destroyed, the street pattern remained the same and some public buildings were renovated. The political centre of Carthage was the Byrsa Hill. New industrial centres emerged within towns during this period. Historian Andy Merrills uses the large amounts of African Red Slip ware discovered across the Mediterranean dating from the Vandal period of North Africa to challenge the assumption that

10918-403: Was faced with a Frankish threat from the north; according to Peter Heather, this was his motivation for marrying Chrotilda , the daughter of Clovis. However, this was not successful, for according to Gregory of Tours , Amalaric pressured her to forsake Orthodoxy and convert to Arian Christianity , at one point beating her until she bled; she sent to her brother Childebert I , king of Paris ,

11024-576: Was hostile to Catholics, he contented himself with bloodless persecutions". Hilderic (523–530) was the Vandal king most tolerant towards the Catholic Church . He granted it religious freedom; consequently, Catholic synods were once more held in North Africa. However, he had little interest in war, and left it to a family member, Hoamer . When Hoamer suffered a defeat against the Moors , the Arian faction within

11130-512: Was mastered by the newly appointed Gothic count of Africa, Sigisvult , who captured both Hippo Regius and Carthage . It is possible that Bonifacius had sought Genseric as an ally against Sigisvult, promising him a part of Africa in return. Advancing eastwards along the coast, the Vandals were confronted on the Numidian border in May–June 430 by Bonifacius. Negotiations broke down, and Bonifacius

11236-442: Was soundly defeated. Bonifacius subsequently barricaded himself inside Hippo Regius with the Vandals besieging the city. Inside, Saint Augustine and his priests prayed for relief from the invaders, knowing full well that the fall of the city would spell conversion or death for many Roman Christians. On 28 August 430, three months into the siege, St. Augustine (who was 75 years old) died, perhaps from starvation or stress, as

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