Kingdom of the Vandals

Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans
Regnum Vandalorum et Alanorum Vandaliric
435 AD–534 AD
Greatest extent of the Vandal Kingdom c. 476
Capital		Hippo Regius 435–439 Carthage 439–534
Languages		Latin (spoken by elite and clergy) Vulgar Latin and African Romance (spoken by common people) Vandalic (spoken among elite) Punic (spoken among common people) Numid (spoken among common people in rural areas) Medieval Greek (spoken among common people)
Religion		Arianism (among elite) Nicene Christianity then Chalcedonian Christianity
Government		Pre-feudal Monarchy
King
•	435–477	Genseric
•	477–484	Huneric
•	484-496	Gunthamund
•	496-523	Thrasamund
•	523-530	Hilderic
•	530–534	Gelimer
History
•	Vandals are awarded land in Mauretania and Numidia	435 AD
•	Conquest by the Byzantine Empire	534 AD
Preceded by Succeeded by Africa (Roman province) Vandals Sicilia (Roman province) Praetorian prefecture of Africa
Today part of		Algeria  France  Italy  Malta  Spain  Tunisia

The Vandal Kingdom (Latin: Regnum Vandalum) or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans (Latin: Regnum Vandalorum et Alanorum) was a kingdom established by the Germanic Vandals under Gaiseric in North Africa and the Mediterranean from 435 AD to 534 AD. It was originally created by the settlement of the Vandals in the province of Numidia and Mauretania by the Roman government and then extended by conquest further into North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Kingdom was conquered by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the Vandalic War.

Although primarily remembered for their persecution of orthodox Nicene Christians, the Vandals were also patrons of learning. Grand building projects continued, schools flourished and North Africa fostered many of the most innovative writers and natural scientists of the late Latin West.

The Vandals, under their new king 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 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. However, it has been suggested that the Vandals migrated to Africa in search of safety; they had been attacked by a Roman army in 422 and had failed to seal a treaty with them. Advancing eastwards along the coast, the Vandals laid siege to the walled city of Hippo Regius in 430. 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 the wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. After 14 months, hunger and the inevitable diseases were ravaging both the city inhabitants and the Vandals outside the city walls, with the city eventually falling to the Vandals, who made it their first capital.