Hilderic (Latin:Flavius Hildericus) (460s – 533) was the penultimate king of theVandals andAlans inNorth Africa in Late Antiquity (523–530). Although dead by the time theVandal Kingdom wasoverthrown in 534, he nevertheless played a key role in that event.
Hilderic was the grandson of kingGaiseric, founder of theVandal kingdom in Africa. His father was Gaiseric's sonHuneric, and his mother wasEudocia, the daughter of theRoman EmperorValentinian III andLicinia Eudoxia.[1] Most of the Vandals wereArians and had persecutedChalcedonians, but Hilderic favored Chalcedonianism as the religion of his mother, making his accession to the throne controversial.[citation needed] Soon after becoming king, Hilderic had his predecessor's widow,Amalafrida, imprisoned; he escaped war with her brother, the Gothic kingTheoderic the Great, only by virtue of the latter's death in 526.[2]
Hilderic's reign was noteworthy for the kingdom's excellent relations with theEastern Roman Empire.Procopius writes that he was "a very particular friend and guest-friend ofJustinian, who had not yet come to the throne", noting that Hilderic and Justinian exchanged large presents of money to each other.[3] Hilderic allowed a new Chalcedonian bishop to take office in the Vandal capital ofCarthage, and many Vandals began to convert to Chalcedonianism, to the alarm of the Vandal nobility.
By the time he assumed the crown, Hilderic was at least into his fifties, if not more than 60. For this reason, according to Procopius, he was uninterested in the military operations of the Vandals and left them to other family members, of whom Procopius singles out for mention his nephew Hoamer.[4]
After seven years on the throne, on the 15th of June, 530, Hilderic fell victim to a revolt led by his cousinGelimer. Gelimer then became King of the Vandals and Alans, and restored Arianism as the official religion of the kingdom. He imprisoned Hilderic, along with Hoamer and his brother Euagees, but did not kill him. Justinian protested Gelimer's actions, demanding that Gelimer return the kingdom to Hilderic. Gelimer sent away the envoys who brought him this message, blinding Hoamer and putting both Hilderic and Euagees under closer confinement, claiming that they had planned a coup against him. When Justinian sent a second embassy protesting these developments, Gelimer replied, in effect, that Justinian had no authority to make these demands. Angered at this response, Justinian quickly concludedhis ongoing war with theSassanian Empire and prepared an expedition against the Vandals in 533.[5] Once Gelimer learned of the arrival of the Roman army, he had Hilderic murdered, along with Euagees and other supporters of Hilderic he had imprisoned.[6]
According to later legend, Hilderic had a daughter, Hildis, who through her legendary sonHalfdan the Old was an ancestor ofRagnar Lodbrok and his descendants.[7]
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| Preceded by | King of the Vandals 523 – 15 June 530 | Succeeded by |
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