UNNERICO

UNNERICO. — King of the Vandals in Africa, son of Genserico (v.), husband of Eudossia, daughter of Valentiniano III.
In the last years of his reign Genserico had sought to secure conditions of peace and stability for his kingdom, thanks to the friendly treaties concluded by his father with the Eastern emperor Zenone and with the new lord of Italy, Odoacre. U. was able to present himself as peaceable and faithful to those pacts, which aimed at freeing the Italian and Greek coasts from piracy and at achieving religious peace in Africa by “suspending the measures against the Catholics adopted with barbarous violence by the Arian Genserico.” This mildness was advised by his awareness of the progressive weakening of the savage vigor of his people, and by the concerns arising from the indigenous populations of the interior, in perpetual revolt and often successful in attacking the Vandal territories. That his mildness and love of peace were in fact inspired solely by considerations of expediency soon became clear from his conduct toward his own relatives and their friends, whom he rid himself of through exile, death sentences, and assassinations, in order to secure the throne for himself and the succession for his son Ilderico. And when the progressive, incurable feebleness of the Eastern Empire persuaded him that he could challenge its susceptibilities with impunity, he did not fail to resume the policy of persecution against the Catholics, to which he was incited by the fanaticism of the Arian clergy and by his own greed for money, which could find ample satisfaction in the confiscation of the property of Catholics and their institutions. Non-Arians were forbidden to hold offices and dignities at court; Catholic officials who refused to convert to the Arian Church were driven into exile and lost their property through confiscation; bishops and priests were imprisoned and exiled, and some were killed. Nor did the interventions of the emperor Zenone accomplish anything: urged by the Pope, he sent more than one embassy to demand respect for the treaties. In February 484 an edict of the Vandal king applied against the Catholics all the provisions that the Roman emperors had issued against heretics. The execution of these orders did not, however, last long, for in December of that same year U. died.