The Vandal–Frankish War was a war of the

Vandals 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 the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

against the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

.Gregorius of Tours,
History of the Franks. Book II
'. Chapter 9. The war took place prior to the

Crossing of the Rhine The crossing of the Rhine River by a mixed group of barbarians which included Vandals, Alans and Suebi is traditionally considered to have occurred on the last day of the year 406 (December 31, 406). The crossing transgressed one of the Roman E ...

in 406 and was the result of a Vandal attack in the residential area of the Franks by the

Middle Rhine Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...

. Given the enormous impact of the events that subsequently took place in Gaul and which had a huge influence on the eventual fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, this war is seen as the run-up to it. It was decided by a Vandal victory. The Vandals were led by a king, ''rex''

Godegisel Godegisel (? – 501) was a Burgundian sub-king and son of the Burgundian king Gondioc. Godegisel was the educator and uncle of Clotilde, wife of the Frankish king Clovis I. Beginning in 463 he was a sub-king of Kingdom of the Burgundians. ...

, while the Franks were led by several kings, of whom no names are given.

Sources

The only written account mentioning the war is of

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

, a 6th-century bishop and historian who used the books of Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus as a source for his own history work ''"Historia Francorum"''. The work of Frigeridus has not survived and is only known because Gregory of Tours quoted him extensively. Later historians have related comments from Prosper and

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

about the Vandals and Alans and passages from the Gallic Chronicle of 452 and the ''Historia Nova of

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...

to the war between the Vandals and Franks.

Background

Early 5th century, the Franks supplied on the Middle Rhine troops to the

Limitanei The ''limitanei'' (Latin, also called ''ripenses''), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin word '' limes'' meaning frontier) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the Rhine and Danube), were an important par ...

in the northernmost provinces

Germania Prima Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura mountains, Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besanç ...

and

Germania Secunda ''Germania Inferior'' ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed ''Germania Secunda'' in the 4th century AD, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Clau ...

. These border troops were charges of guarding the

Limes Limes may refer to: * ''Limes'' (Roman Empire), a border marker and defense system of the Roman Empire * ''Limes'' (Italian magazine), an Italian geopolitical magazine * ''Limes'' (Romanian magazine), a Romanian literary and political quarterly ma ...

, the Rhine border that kept the Roman Empire separate from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Their main settlement area was east of the Rhine, near

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

via

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

and

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

. The Frankish tribes to the north of this were called Salians and in the south lived the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

, peoples who also provided soldiers to the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

. In the course of 406, the Vandals and in their wake the Alans appeared on Frankish territory. Where they came from is a question in itself, to which a clear answer cannot be given. The most plausible explanation is that they were drifting barbarians who were in fact a remnant of

Radagaisus Radagaisus (died 23 August 406) was a Gothic king who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406.Peter Heather, ''The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians'', 2nd ed. 2006:194; A committed p ...

' third army. By Stilicho they were defeated in the war against Radegais of 405 and then they fled across the Alps to

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

. Presumably there were several reasons for their arrival, of which the possibility of settling in the Roman Empire is perhaps the most important. The Vandals who invaded the residential area of the Ripuarians were

Hasdingi The Hasdingi were one of the Vandal peoples of the Roman era. The Vandals were Germanic peoples, who are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language, and were first reported during the first centuries of the Roman empire in the area which i ...

, the western branch of this people. The

Silingi The Silings or Silingi (; – ) were a Germanic tribe, part of the larger Vandal group. The Silingi at one point lived in Silesia, and the names ''Silesia'' and ''Silingi'' may be related.Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wandalowie i ich afrykańskie państw ...

, the other branch was located more east, in the "Vandal Mountains" in the Sudeten. Liebeschuetz 2006, pag. 61-64" This group also moved west, as did groups

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

. The Vandals were led by Godigisel and the Alans by

Respendial Respendial or Respindal was king of a group of Alans in western Europe in the early 5th century CE. After the Crossing of the Rhine in 405 or 406, Respendial's Alans invaded the Roman Empire. The other group of Alans was led by Goar, who joined th ...

. According to Liebesschuetz, the invasion required careful preparation and planning and the organizing and diplomatic brain behind it was the Godigisel of the Asding Vandals. Nevertheless, it seems that the two captains operated separately, because the Vandals went into battle in the decisive battle with the Franks without the Alans.

Start

The arrival of the Vandal and Alan refugees led to conflicts with the Franks and Alemanns. Probably several confrontations took place in which the Franks tried to protect their own territory and possibly also the Roman border as

foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...

, while the Vandals either tried to obtain a similar foederati status on the east bank as the Franks, Alemanns and Burgundians, or tried to cross the Rhine."Macdowall 2016, pag. 37-43"

Decisive battle

Most is unclear about the course of the war, because the sources are inadequate. Frigeridus only gives information about the decisive battle between the Vandals and the Franks in which Godegisel was killed. Initial he fought the Franks without the Alans of Respendialis. Frigeridus mentioned that the Vandals lost about 20,000 warriors in these battles, including their captain. These numbers are probably excessive, but the losses of the Vandals must have been great. The Franks were initially the upper party, but when the situation threatened to become desperate for the Vandals, they suddenly received help from the Alans. United they defeated the Franks in the decisive battle. Frigeridus did not give a date or a precise location for this battle; he only indicated that the Alan army was 'turning from the Rhine' to intervene in the Vandal–Frankish War. From which it can be seen that it must have taken place at some distance from the river. MacDowall estimated that this last battle probably took place sometime in the summer or autumn of 406.

Aftereffects

The final victory of the Vandals and Alans over the Franks marked the end of the Vandal-Frankish War. Their goal had been achieved, the passage to the Roman Empire was no longer prevented, it allowed the Vandals and their allies to stay in the Frankish territory on the

until they crossed the Rhine. Nevertheless, and against the contemporary military logic that one stays in the winter quarters to wait for favorable weather conditions for the next campaign, Prosper claimed in his ''world chronicle'' that the Vandals and Alans crossed the Rhine in the middle of winter.Prosper, ''Chronicles 1230, s.a. 406'' According to MacDowall, this can only be understood if the barbarians suffered

hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In t ...

and were desperate as the area they just had conquered was insufficient to provide enough food for everyone. It is possible that they could use the Roman Rhine bridge near Mainz during the crossing or that the migrating Peoples just used boats. He bases this on the eighth censury source of

Hrabanus Maurus Rabanus Maurus Magnentius ( 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of th ...

, who wrote about the life of Alban of Mainz. After the Hasdingi Vandals and Alans had passed the Limes they were followed by the newly arrived Silingen and

Primary sources

* Olympiodorus *

Chronica Gallica of 452 The ''Chronica Gallica of 452'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 452'', is a Latin chronicle of Late Antiquity, presented in the form of annals, which continues that of Jerome. It was edited by Theodor Mommsen in the ''Monumenta Germaniae His ...

* Prosper, ''Chronicles''

References

Citations

Bibliography

* (2016)
''Stilicho, Radagaisus, and the So-Called "Battle of Faesulae" (406 CE)''
Journal of Late Antiquity 9.1 (Spring): 267-284, Johns Hopkins University Press. * * (2006)
''"Decline and Change in Late Antiquity"''
Ashgate Publishing, * {{Aut, Goetz, Hans Werner, (2003), ''Regna and Gentes''
''kings and kingdoms, the Franks''

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

406 Battles involving the Vandals Rhine 400s conflicts