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''' Vandal Sardinia ''' Flag of Sardinia History of Sardinia Pre-Nuragic Sardinia Nuragic civilization Corsica and Sardinia Vandal Sardinia Byzantine Sardinia Giudicati The Kingdom of Sardinia v te The history of Vandal Sardinia began on purpose with the epilogue of the long Roman domination, in the mid-fifth century, when the island was conquered by the Vandals, a Germanic population settled in North Africa. Sardinia remained vandal for about eighty years, from 456 to 534.

Contents [hide] 1   Conquest 2   Vandal administration 2.1   Godas rebellion 3   Religion 4   Culture 4.1   Funeral architecture 4.2   Clothing 5   Notes 6   Bibliography Conquest[edit source] The conquest of the former province of Corsica and Sardinia by the Vandals occurred between 456 and 476. The first occupation took place in 456 AD. It was a partial, limited and short-lived occupation of some coastal cities. In 466, the Roman general Marcellinus - possibly encouraged by Pope Hilarius - succeeded in regaining control of the island. However, between 474 and 482, Sardinia fell again under the rule of the Vandals, perhaps led by Genseric or his son Huneric.[1] During these campaigns, Olbia, one of the most prosperous Sardinian cities, was violently attacked in the sea and its port destroyed.[2]

The possession of Sardinia guaranteed the Vandals secure maritime trade routes between North Africa and the rest of the Mediterranean. The island became the frontier of the Vandal Kingdom and assumed an important strategic role.

Vandal administration[edit source] The Vandalian Administrative system did not differ much from that of the Roman period. Sardinia was governed by a governor called Praeses, chosen among the trusted men of the royal family and resident in Caralis, who had both civil and military functions; He was assisted by a multitude of auxiliary officials including procurators, tax collectors, and conductors, real estate economists.[3]

The island territory was subdivided into many parts that were assigned partially to the crown and partially to the vandal warriors. The Sardinian-Roman landowners managed to keep their lands in certain cases, in exchange for the payment of lump sums.[4]

Barbagia, the central eastern mountain area of the island, remained a semi-independent ducat, as it was in the Roman period and then in the first part of the later Byzantine period. At the end of the vandal era, in the mountains of Barbagia or Gerrie, also took refuge those groups of Mauri, cited by Procopius of Caesarea, who were sent to the island by the Vandals, initially located in the territory of Caralis and then in the inland mountains from where in the Byzantine period they made raids against the Forum Traiani (Fordongianus). Against them, the Byzantine General Solomon organized a military expedition in the winter of 537.

Godas rebellion[edit source] In 533, perhaps taking advantage of a remarkable autonomy, Godas, the vandal governor of Sardinia of Goth origin, proclaimed himself king of the island,[5] coining his own bronze coins.

Justinian, Emperor of the East, perhaps called to help Godas, decided to intervene and sent an army commanded by General Belisarius, assisted by Duke Cirillus. The Byzantine body led by Belisario was made up of 16,000 soldiers and 600 ships and headed to Africa while Duke Cyril with some 400-ship ships headed for Caralis.

Vandalic War campaign map Meanwhile, the King of Vandals Gelimer, while facing a revolt in Tripoli, sent his brother Tzazo with a large contingent of 120 ships and 5000 men in Sardinia to suffocate Goda's uprising. Tata quickly took Caralis (where he left a small contingent) executed the traitor Judas and returned immediately to Carthage, where in the meantime the Byzantines had landed. Belisario defeated, on August 30, 533 Gelimero, and occupied Carthage, followed by Duke Cirillus, who had no longer reached Sardinia. Tzazo and Gelimer gathered together with what remained of the army, marched against the Byzantines but were still defeated at Battle of Tricamarum (30 km from Carthage). Tzazo was killed while Gelimero, escaping the capture, surrendered a few months later. Duke Cyrillus then went to Calais where he showed the Tzazo's stubborn head impaled on a pike to the Vandals of the garrison. This gesture was enough to deny the defenders and to surrender them.[6] In 534 in Sardinia, therefore, the vandal era ends and the Byzantine begins.

Religion[edit source] The Sardinian dioceses of the Roman period of Caralis, Forum Traiani, Sulci, Turris and Sanafer (perhaps Cornus) remained operative under the Vandals.

The Sardinian church was not persecuted and was not forced into Arianism,[3] while African Catholic bishops were punished with the confinement in the island in times of the most severe oppression between Catholics and Vandals, of Aryan religion. This fact had for Sardinia even positive consequences because the exiles enriched their cultural and religious life (import of monasticism) during their presence. Among the bishops deported to the island of Vandals can be remembered the bishop of Carthage Fulgentius of Ruspe, and Felician is, bishop of Hippo, who carried with him the relics of Augustine of Hippo (now preserved in Pavia).[3] It was in this period that two Sardinians ascended to the papal throne: Pope Hilarius and Pope Symmachus.

Culture[edit source] Funeral architecture[edit source] Their passage is documented by the presence of some necropolis and single burials brought to light in several island locations. The most significant testimonies come from the Columbaris necropolis, consisting of 22 tombs that have returned an abundant amount of finds from a mixed German-African matrix. The funeral area of Sant'Imbenia at Alghero, the burial in Spina Santa near Sassari, and the tomb discovered at Sant'Antioco, where a man was buried with his horse, also appear to belong to the vandalic age.[7]

The historian Alberto Boscolo attributed to the Vandals the tombs with barrel vaults discovered in several island resorts and mainly in southern Sardinia. The scholar identified them as Germanic elite graves but according to other scholars, they would instead be placed chronologically in the Byzantine period.[8]

Clothing[edit source] In the vandal era, some innovations on the island were introduced as regards of dressings such as fibulae and buckles and jewelry such as polyhedron earrings originating in the Germanic area[7].

Notes[edit source] Jump up ^ Casula 1994, p. 127. Jump up ^ Giovanni Pietra, I Romani a Olbia: dalla conquista della città punica all'arrivo dei Vandali. L’arrivo dei Vandali ^ Jump up to: a b c Casula 1994, p. 128. Jump up ^ Casula 1994, p. 1278. Jump up ^ Casula 1994, p. 133. Jump up ^ Casula 1994, p. 135. ^ Jump up to: a b A cura di Silvia Lusuardi Siena, Fonti archeologiche e iconografiche per la storia e la cultura degli insediamenti nell'Altomedievo (2003) pp. 306-310 Jump up ^ Paolo Benito Serra, Tombe a camera in muratura con volta a botte nei cimiteri altomedievali della Sardegna(1987), p.140 Bibliography[edit source] Francesco Cesare Casula, La Storia di Sardegna, Sassari, 1994 Antonio Piras (a cura di), Lingua et ingenium: Studi su Fulgenzio di Ruspe e il suo contesto, Cagliari, Sandhi, 2010 Sergio Liccardi, Tra Roma e i Vandali. Godas re di Sardegna, 2012 Categories: Ancient SardiniaVandal Kingdom