Van Cleef, Cornelius, D.D., a minister of the Re- formed (Dutch) Church, born at llarlingen, N. J., Sept. IC, 1799, He graduated at Dickinson College in 1823, and at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1820; was licensed at Philadelphia in 11S2(); missionary at Pal- atine, N, J„ in 1826; at Manayunk, Pa,, 1827 "to 1828; Athens, 1828 to 1833; New Hackensack, N, J,, 1833 to 1866, and died June 13, 1875, He was converted at the age of sixteen, and Avas eminent for piety during his whole life. As a preacher he was faithful, earnest, and impressive. See Corwin, Manual of the Reformed Church in America, s, v.
Vandals {Vandali, Wanduli, Vindili) were a Ger- manic tribe which ranks with the Goths, Herulians, Rugians, etc, among the migratory hordes that swarmed over the boundaries of the devoted Roman empire and f'oinided new states upon its ruins. This people possesses great importance, not only for general history, but, by reason of its passionate opposition to the Catholic faith, for the history of the Church as well. Their original seat was in the northern sections of the Riesengebirge and the modern Lnsatia, whence they burst forth in the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius as the allies of the Marcomanni, Some years later they appeared on the borders of Dacia by the side of the (Joths and GepidiE, but were induced by the emperor Probus to settle peaceably in that province. They were at a later day badly defeated l)y the Goths, and given a res- idence in Pannonia by the emperor Constantine, where they sustained friendly relations to their neighbors, and received Christianity from the Visigoths in its Arian form.
In the year 406 the Vandals laid aside their peaceful habits, and, in conjunction with the Alani and the Suevi, swept in savage irruption over the countries of Western Europe, They defeated the (iauls, crossed the Pyre- nees, and entered Spain, ultimately settling in the south- western part of the peninsula (Vandalitia, Andalusia) and making it the base from which they carried barba- rous devastations into all the regions accessible to their armies, the fanatical suppression of the Catliolic party being everywhere a noticeable feature in their opera- tions. The accession of (ienseric ((iaiseric, ( U'iseric) to the sovereignty in 428 began a new epoch in their his- tory. Count Boniface, the Roman governor of Africa, having been goaded on to rebellion through the machi- nations of Aetius, the conqueror of Atlila, invited Gcn- seric to come to his assistance, and the latter responded by crossing over into Africa with more than fifty thou- sand men in IMay, 429. Boniface was soon afterwards reconciled to the em[)eror, through the ett'orts of Augus- tine, bishop of Hippo, and thereupon endeavored to turn back his Vandal allies, first by persuasion and afterwards by force of arms, but without success. In 435 they con- cluded a treaty with Rome, which gave them the prov- inces of Mauritania and Numidia; four years afterwards Carthage fell into their hands and was made the capital
VANDALS
■01
VANDERLIP
of their possessions. Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Majorca, and Minorca were included in their en)|)ire. In 455 Kome itself was taken, the emperor Maximns killed, and the city given over to pillage during fourteen days — June Jo -"ill. Many prisoners, among them the empress Euilo.xia and her two daughters, and many treasures and works of art were taken away to their African dominions. 'J'iie empire twice endeavored to punish the insolence and cruelties of these harharian in- vaders— first in 457, when a fleet sent against the Van- dals was destroved by Genseric in the bay of Cartha- gena; and again in 41)8, when an expedition sent from the East, and commanded by Heraclius, encountered a similar fate otf the city of Bona. Genseric died Jan. 15, 477. Under his rule the Vandals extended their <iominions in every direction; but. in the process, con- ducted themselves with such barbarity in the securing of spoil and the destruction of works of art that the world tixed on them its stigma of opprobrium, and per- ])etuated it for all time by the coining of the term Vati- ilalism. Especially cruel was their treatment of ortho- do.x Christians as it is described by the contemporary bishop Victor of Vita in the province of Bvzacium. Not only were churclies and other bidldiugs destroyed, but also cities; fields and plantations were devastated; clergymen, wealthy la\'men, and women of every age and rank were made to endure every form of suffering. The torture was in constant use. Masses of people were driven together in the vicinity of fortresses impregna- ble to the Vandal arms, and there massacred in order that the stench of the putrefying bodies might compel a surrender. After the capture of Carthage, (ienserie announced his determination to thoroughly supersede the Catholic with the Arian doctrine ; and to accom- plish tiiis result he either banished or enslaved the or- thodox clergy and laity and gave the churches to his friends. Hunneric, the son and successor of Genseric, followed his father's example. The Catholics of Car- thage were at first permitted to choose a bishop, and se- lected Eugenius; but the persecutions soon began afresh. Only Arians were allowed to hold office in the State ; and such Catholics as had been in official stations were deposed, deprived of their property, and banished. De- voted virgins were tortured to compel the confession that they had been guilty of illicit relations with cler- gymen of tiieir faith. About five thousand Catholics, chiefly clergymen, were banished to the desert, where many starved to death and others died of the maltreat- ment they experienced. In 484 the African bishops were summoneil to meet the Arians at Carthage, and en- deavor to prove the Homoousian creed from the Script- ures. No bishops from beyond the sea were allowed to be present. Previous to the meeting of the synod sev- eral orthodox bishops were scourged, and the respected and learned bishop Laetiis of Nepte was burned at the stake. In the synod C>rilla, Arian patriarch of the Vandals, presided, seated with his coreligionists upon an elevated throne, while the orthodox bishops stood be- fore it in the attitude of criminals. When they vent- ured to protest against this indignitj', as also against the assimiption of patriarchal functions by Cyrilla, they were each beaten with one hundred blows with rods. To still further intimidate them, the king caused seven monks who refused to become Arians to be tortured at Carthage and then taken on shipboard to be burned to death on the high seas — a plan which failed because the vessel would not burn, so that the executioners were obliged to beat out the brains of their victims with their oars. The Catholics, however, jiresented the syn- od with a clear and concise statement of their doctrines, which was palilicly read; but no further discussion was allowed. The king issued an edict which closed all or- thodox churches in Africa on the same day, and confis- cated all the property of the orthodox, for the use of the Arian, bishops. Soon afterwards a second edict com- manded the execution upon Catholics who shoidd not have accepted Arianism by June 1,484, of all the pun-