vandal

vandal
/van"dl/, n.
1. (cap.) a member of a Germanic people who in the 5th century A.D. ravaged Gaul and Spain, settled in Africa, and in A.D. 455 sacked Rome.
2. a person who willfully or ignorantly destroys or mars something beautiful or valuable.
adj.
3. (cap.) of or pertaining to the Vandals.
4. imbued with or characterized by vandalism.
[1545-55; < LL Vandalus, Latinized tribal name]

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Any member of a Germanic people who ruled a kingdom in North Africa from 429 to 534 and who sacked Rome in 455.

Fleeing westward from the Huns, they invaded Gaul before settling in Spain (409). Under King Gaiseric (r. 428–477) they migrated to North Africa and became federates of Rome (435). Four years later Gaiseric threw off Roman overlordship and captured Carthage. The Vandals later annexed Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, and their pirate fleets controlled much of the western Mediterranean. When they invaded Italy and captured Rome (455), they plundered the city and its artworks, and their name has remained a synonym for willful desecration and destruction. The Vandals were Arian Christians (see Arianism) who persecuted Roman Catholics in Africa. They were conquered when the Byzantines invaded North Africa (533–534).

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▪ Germanic people
      member of a Germanic people who maintained a kingdom in North Africa from AD 429 to 534 and who sacked Rome in 455. Their name has remained a synonym for willful desecration or destruction.

      Fleeing westward from the Huns at the beginning of the 5th century, the Vandals invaded and devastated parts of Gaul before settling in Spain in 409. There the Asdingi Vandals under King Gunderic became the ascendant group after attacks by allies of the Romans had dissipated the Silingi and Alani Vandals. In 429 Gunderic's brother and successor, Gaiseric (q.v.; reigned 428–477), settled his people in North Africa, where they became federates of Rome in 435. Four years later Gaiseric threw off Roman overlordship, captured Carthage, and established an independent autocracy. With their rule firmly established in what is now northern Tunisia and northeastern Algeria, the Vandals eventually annexed Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, and their pirate fleets controlled much of the western Mediterranean. Under Gaiseric, the Vandals even invaded Italy and captured Rome in June 455. For a fortnight they occupied the city and systematically plundered it, carrying off many valuable works of art.

      The Vandals were ardent Arian Christians, and their persecutions of the Roman Catholic church in Africa were at times fierce, particularly during the last years of the reign of Gaiseric's successor, Huneric (reigned 477–484). In 533 the Byzantines under Belisarius invaded North Africa following the deposition by the usurper Gelimer of Huneric's son, Hilderich, who was a close friend of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. In one campaigning season the Vandal kingdom was destroyed. Rome again ruled the area and restored the churches to the Roman Catholics. The Vandals played no further role in history.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Vandal — Dreiseitenriss der Vandal p1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • vandal — VANDÁL, vandali, s.m. 1. Persoană care făcea parte din grupul de triburi de origine germanică care au coborât în sec. V de pe ţărmul Mării Baltice ajungând până în nordul Africii unde au întemeiat un regat şi de unde au pătruns în Roma, jefuind… …   Dicționar Român

  • vandal — van·dal / vand əl/ n [Vandal, member of a Germanic tribe who sacked Rome in A.D. 455]: a person who willfully destroys, damages, or defaces property belonging to another or to the public Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • vandal — 1660s, willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable, from Vandals, name of the Germanic tribe that sacked Rome in 455 under Genseric, from L. Vandalus (pl. Vandali), from the tribe s name for itself (O.E. Wendlas), from P.Gmc. *Wandal… …   Etymology dictionary

  • vandal — ► NOUN 1) a person who deliberately destroys or damages property. 2) (Vandal) a member of a Germanic people that ravaged Gaul, Spain, Rome, and North Africa in the 4th 5th centuries. DERIVATIVES vandalism noun. ORIGIN Latin Vandalus …   English terms dictionary

  • Vandal — [van dal′ikvan′dəl] n. [L Vandalus < Gmc base * wandal > OE Wendil, ON Vendill] 1. a member of an East Germanic people that ravaged Gaul, Spain, and N Africa and sacked Rome (A.D. 455) 2. [v ] a person who, out of malice or ignorance,… …   English World dictionary

  • Vandal — Van dal, Vandalic Van*dal ic, a. Of or pertaining to the Vandals; resembling the Vandals in barbarism and destructiveness. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Vandal — Van dal, n. [L. Vandalus, Vandalius; of Teutonic origin, and probably originally signifying, a wanderer. Cf. {Wander}.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Anc. Hist.) One of a Teutonic race, formerly dwelling on the south shore of the Baltic, the most barbarous… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Vandal — (spr. wangdall), Albert, franz. Historiker, geb. 1853 in Paris, 1897 Mitglied der französischen Akademie, schrieb: »Louis XV et Elisabeth de Russie« (1882, 3. Aufl. 1896); »Le Pacha Bonneval« (1885); »Une ambassade française en Orient sous Louis… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Vandal — (spr. wangdáll), Albert, franz. Historiker, geb. 7. Juli 1853 in Paris, Mitglied der Franz. Akademie; schrieb: »Louis XV et Elisabeth de Russie« (1882), »Napoléon et Alexandre I« (2 Bde., 1891 93) u.a …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Vandal — Surtout porté dans le Pas de Calais, c est une variante du flamand Van Daal, Van Dael (également Vandaal, Vandael, Vandaele), désignant celui qui est originaire d un lieu dit Dael, Daele (= la vallée) …   Noms de famille

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