Respendial or Respindal was king of a group of
Alans
The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...
in western Europe in the early 5th century CE. After 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 405 or 406, Respendial's Alans invaded the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. The other group of Alans was led by
Goar, who joined the Romans.
Biography
Vandal–Frankish war
Respendial is mentioned in the
Frigeridus fragment, embedded in
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 ...
's work, describing the
Vandal–Frankish war that preceded 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 ...
(the crossing was dated to 31 December 406 by
Prosper of Aquitaine).
According to Frigeridus, the Roman-allied
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 ...
were inflicting heavy casualties on the Vandals over the course of probably several battles, killing 20,000 Vandal warriors and their king
Godigisel. They were on the verge of exterminating the tribe.
At that point – according to MacDowall (2016) probably in the summer or autumn of 406 – another Alan king, Respendial, came to the Vandals' rescue and defeated the Franks,
"although Goar had gone over to the Romans."
Into Gaul and Spain
After that, the Vandals and Respendial's Alans crossed the Rhine. It's unclear from Frigeridus' account what happened to Goar's Alans, but other sources make clear that they were eventually settled in Gaul near
Orléans
Orléans (,["Orleans"](_blank)
(US) and [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 ...]
, and Respendial's Alans continued into
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
According to bishop
Hydatius' chronicle, the Vandals (Silings and Asdings) were the first to arrive in Spain in September or October 409,
while Gregory notes that Suebi and Alans (presumably those led by Respendial
) followed them later.
[Gregory of Tours, ]
History of the Franks. Book II
'. Chapter 9.
Respendial's fate is unknown; by 418, he was no longer king.
He had been succeeded by
Attaces, who was killed when the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...
invaded Hispania. This group of Alans after that united with the Asding Vandals, with whom they crossed into
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and established an independent kingdom.
Note
References
{{Authority control
Alanic kings
5th-century Iranian people