Gaiseric

Gaiseric
Gaiseric, king of the Vandals by Julius Naue, 1869, Sammlung Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin
King of the Vandals and Alans
Reign428 – 477
PredecessorGunderic
SuccessorHuneric
Bornc. 389
Near Lake Balaton, Pannonia Prima, Western Roman Empire
Died25 January 477 (aged 87)
Carthage, Vandal Kingdom
Issue
FatherGodigisel
ReligionArianism

Gaiseric (c. 389 – 25 January 477),[1] also known as Geiseric or Genseric (Latin: Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: *Gaisarīx)[a] was king of the Vandals and Alans from 428 to 477. He ruled over a kingdom and played a key role in the decline of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century.

The murder of Roman Emperor Valentinian III, who had betrothed his daughter to Gaiseric's son Huneric, led the Vandal king to invade Italy. The invasion culminated in his most famous exploit, the capture and plundering of Rome in June 455. Gaiseric repulsed two major attempts by both halves of the Roman Empire to reclaim North Africa, inflicting devastating defeats on the forces of Majorian in 460 and Basiliscus in 468. As a result, the Romans abandoned their campaign against the Vandals and concluded peace with Gaiseric. Gaiseric died in Carthage in 477 and was succeeded by his son, Huneric. Through his nearly fifty years of rule, Gaiseric raised a relatively inconsequential Germanic tribe to the status of a major Mediterranean power.

A 16th century perception of the Vandals, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted by Lucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in the Ghent University Library.[2]


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