Gelimer

Gelimer (r. 530–534) was the last Germanic king of the Vandals and Alans and the North African Vandal Kingdom. He was the great-grandson of Geiseric with claims to the throne. He seized the throne after deposing his first cousin once removed, Hilderic, whose pro-Byzantine policies and religious tolerance toward Chalcedonian Christianity at the expense of Arianism had alienated much of the Vandal nobility. Gelimer's rule was challenged by simultaneous revolts in Tripolitania and Sardinia, which Byzantine Emperor Justinian I exploited in the opening of the Vandalic War. In 533, the Byzantine general Belisarius invaded North Africa, defeating Gelimer at the Battle of Ad Decimum in September 533 and three months later at the Battle of Tricamarum. Following his defeat, Gelimer fled to the mountains of Numidia before surrendering in March 534, bringing the Vandal Kingdom to an end. He was taken to Constantinople, where he appeared in Belisarius's triumph. Justinian granted Gelimer estates in Galatia, where he lived in retirement until his death.