The House of Gaiseric???

[November Update: This post is one I now somehwat regret making.}

This is a sequel of sorts to the post I made a few years ago suggesting that the Gaiseric of Berserk may have more then just a name in common with the historical Vandal King Gaiseric.  Since then I have watched the 97 Berserk TV Anime, in fact I think I did before the Manga Author passed away.  But this post shall be even less about the actual Berserk franchise then my first one.  But actually seeing the Anime has firmly convinced me that Midland is mostly just based on France not Middle Francia.

Gaiseric's Kingdom continued for awhile after he died, his successor was his son Huneric.  The next Vandal king was Gunthamund the second son of Gento the fourth and youngest son of Gaiseric.  After that was Thrasamund the third son of Gento.  Then Huneric's son Hilderic finally took the throne in 523, but because of Hilderic's conversion to Chalcedonian Christianity Gelimer lead a coup against him.  Hilderic is referred to as Gelimar's "first cousin once removed" on Wikipedia.  It was Gelimer who was conquered by Belisarius in 534 AD.

Now I've seen it claimed more then once that Procopius says the entire Vandal nations sailed away in ships after Gelimar's defeat.  It's also worth noting that late antiquity sources like Procopius use Vandal/Vandals and African/Africans interchangeably when identifying this kingdom and it's people, since their capital was Carthage previously the capital of the Roman province of Africa which was no where near the entirety of the Continent we today know by that name but mainly the northern most Mediterranean coasts of north western Africa.

Geoffroy of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is a mythologized account of British history from the Welsh POV.  I do not at take it at face value, but do I think it can provide glimpses into history not recorded elsewhere, we just need to consider what it says carefully.  In book 11 about a generation after the time of King Arthur during the reign of a Briton King who Geoffroy calls Keredic and the Brute Tysslo calls Ceredig, a King of "Africans" who had been doing some plundering in Ireland named Gormund makes an alliance with the Saxons.

I'm not the first to suggest this mysterious "African" King suddenly popping up in a semi-mythical account of mid to late 6th Century Brittan was actually a Vandal, the name Gormund fits in well with the names the known Vandal kings used.  It's further mysterious how after this Gormund succeeds in defeating Keredic he simply hands over England to the Anglo-Saxons.  

Of course the clue to what he did next is provided, as his assistance was also requested by a Isembart/Isembard the Nephew of the King of the Franks named Lewis/Louis.  Isembard and Louis are both names that became popular in France much later, so these aren't their real names but I feel could refer to real historical figures.  In the Brute Tysslo this Isembard is named as Imbert his uncle is not named at all.  The Franks had multiple Kings at this time as after Clothair I died in 561 his Kingdom was divided among 4 of his sons.

Three of those sons of Clothair continued to reign all through the period in question.  But Charibert I who inherited Paris itself only lived to 567 AD.  After he died his three bothers divided up his kingdom even though he had a living son, Charibert of Hesbaye.  Strangely official history records nothing of him even trying to do anything about being denied his inheritance.  He is recorded as having a wife named Wulfgurd who's parents are unknown and children by her.  Wulfgurd sounds to me like another name that fits in with those Vandal names so I think she could be a Daughter, Sister, Niece or Cousin of Gormund.  

Hesbaye is a region in modern Belgium and patrilinear descendants of Charibert and Wulfred were Counts there for centuries, a dynasty called the Robertians which in time provide the Paternal Grandmother of Charlemagne as well as Robert The Strong the father of Huge The Great who was the father of Huge Capet and thus Paternal Ancestor of all post-Carolingian Kings of France including the Pretenders claiming that throne today, the Capetians, Valois and Bourbons.  

A sister of Huge Capet also married into the Vermandois line as well as Flanders, Blois and the Anjou, important Crusader dynasties.

But going back to Geoffroy of Monmouth, I've also noticed that earlier in Book 9 Guillamurius is the name of a King of Barbarians with a Fleet in Ireland during the time of King Arthur.  Native Irish records do not mention a King by that name, but it sounds close to Gelimar.