Godigisel (359–406) was King of the

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 is ...

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

until his death in 406. It is unclear when or how he became king; however, in 405 he formed and led a coalition of Germanic peoples, including the Hasdingi Vandals, Silingi Vandals, Suebi, and others from Pannonia with the intention of invading Roman Gaul. Before crossing the Rhine River into Gaul, he was killed in the

Vandal–Frankish war 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 Lat ...

, possibly in late 406. Shortly after his death (traditionally dated to 31 December 406), this group of Vandals and their allies crossed the Rhine River into the territory of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, possibly while it was frozen. Godigisel was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

Gunderic Gunderic ( la, Gundericus; 379–428), King of Hasding Vandals (407-418), then King of Vandals and Alans (418–428), led the Hasding Vandals, a Germanic tribe originally residing near the Oder River, to take part in the barbarian invasions of ...

, who led the Vandals into

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

and in October 409 to

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...

. But Godigisel was best known as the father of

Genseric Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( la, Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the di ...

, who succeeded Gunderic to the kingship in 428 and ruled for 49 years, establishing a powerful kingdom in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Notes

{{authority control 359 births 406 deaths Kings of the Vandals Vandal warriors Monarchs killed in action 5th-century monarchs in Europe 4th-century monarchs in Europe