Editing Alans (section)

===Hispania and Africa===

[[File:Alan kingdom hispania.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Kingdom of the Alans in Hispania (409–426 CE).]]

Following the fortunes of the [[Vandals]] and [[Suebi]] into the [[Iberian Peninsula]] ([[Hispania]], comprising modern Portugal and Spain) in 409,<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Atlas of the Classical World, 500 BC–AD 600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOzKGAAACAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books|isbn=978-0-7607-1973-2|page=2.16}}</ref> the Alans led by Respendial settled in the provinces of [[Lusitania]] and [[Hispania Carthaginensis|Carthaginensis]].<ref>''"Alani Lusitaniam et Carthaginiensem provincias, et Wandali cognomine Silingi Baeticam sortiuntur"'' ([[Hydatius]])</ref> The Kingdom of the Alans was among the first [[Barbarian kingdoms]] to be founded. The [[Silingi|Siling]] Vandals settled in [[Baetica]], the Suebi in coastal [[Gallaecia]], and the [[Hasdingi|Asding]] Vandals in the rest of Gallaecia. Although the newcomers controlled Hispania they were still a tiny minority among a larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.<ref name="EB Spain" />

In 418 (or 426 according to some authors<ref>Castritius, 2007</ref>), the Alan king, [[Attaces]], was killed in battle against the Visigoths, and this branch of the Alans subsequently appealed to the Asding Vandal king [[Gunderic]] to accept the Alan crown. The separate ethnic identity of Respendial's Alans dissolved.<ref>For another rapid disintegration of an ''ethne'' in the Early Middle Ages, see [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]]. (Pohl 1998:17f).</ref> Although some of these Alans are thought to have remained in [[Iberian peninsula|Iberia]], most went to North Africa with the [[Capture of Carthage (439)|Vandals in 429]]. Later the rulers of the [[Vandal Kingdom]] in North Africa styled themselves ''Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum'' ("King of the Vandals and Alans").<ref name="Latham">{{cite book|last=Latham|first=Robert Gordon|author-link1=Robert Gordon Latham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CspAAAAYAAJ|title=Russian and Turk From a Geographical, Ethnological, and Historical Point of View|page=170|publisher=[[W. H. Allen & Co.|W. H. Allen]]|year=1878|isbn=}}</ref><ref name="Chrysos">{{cite book|author=[[:el:Ευάγγελος Χρυσός|Evangelos Chrysos]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bj5pAAAAMAAJ|title=Das Reich und die Barbaren|page=58|publisher=[[Böhlau Verlag|Böhlau]]|year=1989|isbn=978-3205051121}}</ref>

[[File:Vandal alan kingdom 526.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in North Africa (526 CE).]]

There are some vestiges of the Alans in Portugal,<ref>Milhazes, José. [http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?article=264957&visual=16&rss=0 Os antepassados caucasianos dos portugueses] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101100219/http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?article=264957&visual=16&rss=0 |date=1 January 2016 }}&nbsp;– [[Rádio e Televisão de Portugal]] in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].</ref> namely in [[Alenquer, Portugal|Alenquer]] (whose name may be Germanic for the ''Temple of the Alans'', from "Alan Kerk",<ref>Ivo Xavier Fernándes. Topónimos e gentílicos, Volume 1, 1941, p. 144.</ref> and whose castle may have been established by them; the [[Alaunt]] is still represented in that city's coat of arms), in the construction of the castles of [[Castelo de Torres Vedras|Torres Vedras]] and [[Castle of Almourol|Almourol]], and in the city walls of [[Lisbon]], where vestiges of their presence may be found under the foundations of the [[Igreja de Santa Luzia (Lisbon)|Church of ''Santa Luzia'']].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the Iberian peninsula the Alans settled in [[Lusitania]] ([[Alentejo]]) and the Cartaginense provinces. They became known in retrospect for their massive hunting and fighting running [[mastiff]]-type dogs, the [[Alaunt]], which they apparently introduced to Europe. The breed is extinct, but its name is carried by a Spanish breed of dog still called ''[[Alano Español|Alano]]'', traditionally used in [[boar]] hunting and [[cattle]] herding. The Alano name, however, has historically been used for a number of dog breeds in a few European countries thought to descend from the original dog of the Alans, such as the German mastiff ([[Great Dane]]) and the French [[Dogue de Bordeaux]], among others.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}