The Vandals and Byzantines on Mallorca

By the middle of the 5th century, Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands had come under Vandal rule, usually dated to around 455. Their king ruled from Carthage, on the coast of present-day Tunisia. For roughly eighty years, Mallorca belonged to a kingdom centred in North Africa.

The Vandals were a Germanic people who had travelled through the Iberian Peninsula to North Africa. They crossed into Africa in 429 and captured Carthage in 439. From there, they extended their power across islands in the western Mediterranean.

The Balearics lay between North Africa, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. Controlling them provided bases for a fleet, while their harbours continued to serve trading ships.

Vandal raids on the Balearics are recorded as early as 425, but lasting rule began later. No detailed account of Mallorca's takeover survives.

Mallorca's population had lived with Roman language and customs for centuries. We do not know how many Vandals settled on the island, and there is no evidence that the existing population was entirely replaced.

Goods continued to arrive by sea. North African tableware and amphorae dating from around 450–475 have been found in Palma, alongside products from Ibiza and the eastern Mediterranean. Trade did not simply stop when the rulers changed.

Excavations near Manacor offer further clues to everyday life in the following centuries of Late Antiquity. At Son Peretó, people lived in simple single-storey houses with a few rooms. They cooked indoors and stored cereals and pulses in pits. They farmed and kept animals, while amphora fragments show that wine and oil were also imported.

In 484, Mallorca appears in a list of bishops associated with a religious assembly at Carthage. It names Helias of Mallorca, Macarius of Menorca and Opilio of Ibiza, showing that all three islands had Christian communities with their own bishops.

The Vandal kings were Christians too, but followed the branch usually called Arian Christianity. A central disagreement concerned the relationship between Christ and God the Father. The Catholic bishops followed a different doctrine.

King Huneric persecuted Catholic bishops, although most surviving accounts concern North Africa. We do not know enough to say exactly which measures were enforced on Mallorca. The Mallorcan bishop's name in the list of 484, however, is direct evidence from the period.

The major fire at Pollentia is dated to around 270–280, almost two hundred years before Vandal rule on Mallorca. Its cause is unknown. It cannot therefore be attributed to the Vandals' takeover.

Pollentia remained inhabited after the fire. Houses and public spaces were altered or put to different uses. A fortification in the forum area dates from the first half of the 6th century and is probably connected with Eastern Roman rule.

Visit the excavations near Alcúdia and you will see buildings from several centuries. The theatre and Roman houses predate Vandal rule. Our Roman Mallorca guide takes you through the three main areas.

The word “vandalism” was coined much later, during the French Revolution. It was used in 1794 to describe the destruction of cultural heritage. That later term cannot explain why any particular ancient town became a ruin.

Emperor Justinian sent an army against the Vandal kingdom in North Africa. His general Belisarius defeated the Vandals in the campaign of 533–534. The Balearics were then incorporated into the Eastern Roman Empire.

The historian Procopius names the commander Apollinarius, whom Belisarius sent to Ebusa, Majorica and Minorica — Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca. Belisarius himself need not have landed on Mallorca. The account describes no major battle on the island.

The empire's capital was Constantinople, now Istanbul. Today we also call it the Byzantine Empire, although its inhabitants continued to think of themselves as Romans.

The churches and settlements of the following centuries belong to Mallorca's Late Antique history. Son Peretó and the History Museum of Manacor are particularly useful places to explore this period.

The remains of Son Peretó lie beside the road from Manacor to Sant Llorenç. The site includes an early Christian basilica, a baptismal area, adjoining rooms and a burial ground. You can trace the church's ground plan and identify its two baptismal pools.

The church had a nave and two aisles, with mosaic floors. The baptismal pools date from the 6th century and the mosaics from around its middle. The wider complex spans the 5th to 7th centuries, so it cannot all be assigned to Vandal rule.

Original mosaics and other finds are displayed at the Museu d’Història de Manacor. Replica mosaics have also been installed at the site. Combining the excavations and museum gives you a fuller visit.

Find visitor information on Manacor council's website.