Vandals in Spain: Better than their reputation?

They were an ethnic group with perhaps the worst reputation in history. Their name has become synonymous with destruction for the sake of destruction itself. Originally, they came from Scandinavia. For a long time they lived in an area that is today part of Poland – but that was before the most feared army commander of their time chased them south. For a couple of decades they stayed in the Iberian Peninsula, but were forced across the water into North Africa where they rapidly established their own empire. Later they turned north again to what is today Italy and the Spanish Mediterranean islands. They are best known for having laid waste to Rome in 455 AD but both in Italy and on the Spanish mainland, the Vandals have nevertheless behaved somewhat better than their legacy would suggest.

It was the Huns and their fearsome archers on horseback who set in motion a chain reaction often referred to as the European Migration Period. Massive movements of people pushing westwards were to have ripple effects over most of Europe and decisive consequences for those in power. And also for most people on the Iberian Peninsula, which was then controlled by the Romans.

The Huns were a nomadic people who came from an area east of the Volga River. Their legendary army commander Attila who died in 453 AD was the most powerful ruler of the Hun Empire, an empire stretching from the Urals in the east to the Rhine in the west. At its peak, it included the Baltic States, large parts of Central Europe, Russia and Asia Minor.

The Huns plundered and killed wherever they went and large portions of the local population felt so unsafe that they chose to leave their homes. And of course it was safest to travel in groups. Among the many tribes who feared starvation and death were the Vandals who in southern Poland mostly lived in small, unprotected villages. Their journey led them west.

It was important to stay ahead of the Huns whose advance was not stopped until they reached an area just east of present-day Paris. Vandals from various small communities banded together in larger groups on their journey through Europe and they built alliances with other vulnerable groups like the Alans and Suebi so that they could better defend themselves.

In late December 406 AD, an impressive group of about 50,000 warriors crossed the icy Rhine after winning a battle against the Franks who controlled the Roman regions of Gaul, west of the river. The Frankish people and the Vandal alliance were never friendly and continued Vandal looting on their way through Gaul did nothing to appease the locals.

Across the Pyrenees

Three years later, in 409 AD, the Vandals crossed the Pyrenees to Iberia. There they settled mainly in Galicia and what was then called Baetica, today better known as Andalusia.

The Western Roman Empire were in power on the Iberian Peninsula, and although the Romans tolerated the settling of refugees from the north, they were not free to decide where to settle.

The relationship between Romans and Vandals was far from cordial. It did not improve as the Vandals got organized and started raiding the riches of local populations in Iberia. And the Vandals were not lazy. In 425, for example, their plundering included the Balearic Islands, Cartagena and Seville.

The Romans found that one way they could get rid of the Vandals was to ally themselves with various local groups so that together they could make life very unpleasant for them. Consequently, in 429 AD the Vandals left Spain led by their newly appointed king Geiserik. Their journey went across the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa, where a Roman governor sensationally gave the Vandals an area centering on present-day Tunisia. He would come to regret that decision.

The Vandals seem to have learned from history and had no plans to return to being a small, vulnerable group again. They were not content with the area the Romans had given them, had clear ambitions and quickly began to acquire more land. Already in 439 AD they conquered Carthage. Led by their king Geiserik, the Vandals later conquered Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands.

Faith and territory

The tensions between the Roman Empire and the Vandals and their allies were palpable. And it was not just the Vandals’ territorial ambitions that led to unrest. On their journey through Europe, the Vandals had converted to Christianity, but they had chosen a different direction than Catholicism. The Vandals were Aryan Christians, and in North Africa they persecuted Catholics with a heavy hand. Converting from Arianism to Catholicism was forbidden, and Catholics were not allowed to have their own bishops. Monasteries were forcibly dissolved and priests expelled.

So, one wonders, what did the religious differences consisted of. Simply explained, Arianism claimed that Jesus was the son of God, born of God and therefore subordinate to him. God has always existed, but Jesus was born. Such a disagreement may seem relatively trivial in our day, but was a very serious conflict at the time.

Rome is being vandalized

The Vandals had serious ambitions, and in June 455 AD their forces occupied the eternal city of Rome. They spent two weeks plundering the city – and it is first and foremost this incident that started their dubious reputation.

No doubt the Vandals did well against Rome. They took loot from the temple in Jerusalem that the Romans themselves had plundered under Titus. And while their raids were ongoing, they kidnapped both Empress Licinia Eudoxia and her two daughters as well as a number of other prominent people. But according to modern historians, the impression we have in retrospect that the Vandals left only ruins is exaggerated.

There must have been relatively few murders and little violence, and Rome’s building mass was not set on fire, although some buildings were destroyed. But as in most conflicts the victors tell the story. And in this case the victors were the Romans – even though it would be some time before they could finally rid themselves of the Vandals. Not only did the “superpower” feel humiliated, the Vandals also made it difficult for the Romans to control the very important grain production in North Africa. The Roman Empire was admittedly weakened, but far from powerless at this time. In 457 AD the Roman general Majorian ascended the Western Roman throne and immediately began the work of rebuilding the Roman Empire – and to neutralize the Vandals. Help to bring down the Vandals came from the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople.

And again, Spain is the stage for important historical events. In 460 AD the parties clash in a naval battle often called the Battle of Cartagena. It did not take place in Cartagena, but outside today’s Santa Pola just south of Alicante. That battle tells us a lot about the Vandals’ “working methods” and explains why they had considerable success for a long time.

By the spring of 461, the Roman emperor and general Majorian had built no less than 300 warships while several more were about to be completed. The Vandals intelligence must have been good. They learned of the Romans’ naval build-up and decided to strike at the Roman fleet before it became “invincible”. On May 13, the Vandals attacked Roman ships outside Santa Pola on the Costa Blanca. They had bribed a number of Roman captains beforehand and they supported the Vandals during the ensuing battle. The Roman fleet was smashed that day and had to abandon any attempt to throw the vandals out of North Africa.

It would take until 533 AD before the Eastern Roman Empire gained enough strength to challenge the Vandals once more. By then, the Vandals’ skilled army commander and leader, Geiserik, was long dead. His successors on the throne were far weaker and could not control all parts of their territory. And in Constantinople Justinian ascended the throne, a man who would become a powerful opponent.

In 533 AD, Justinian deployed large military forces against Carthage and conquered the city. He then systematically subjugated all the Vandals’ areas, and they disappeared surprisingly quickly from world history. The remaining Vandal soldiers who joined the Byzantine military, were often moved to the front during fights against their arch-enemy Persia, and the leaders of the Vandals settled in areas far away from what had been their home. It took just under four months from the time Justinian launched the attack on the Vandals, until their kingdom had fallen. There are few Vandal archaeological finds left behind – they have first and foremost left behind the world’s worst reputation.

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_{Featured image: Depicting the Battle of Cape Bon (in northeastern Tunisia and close to Carthage, the Vandal HQ at the time) where the Vandals defeated the navies of both the Western and the Eastern Roman Empires in 468 AD. (Source: Youtube: Geiseric & The Kingdom of The Vandals)}

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