Respendial or Respindal was king of a group of Alans

Alans

The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...

 in western Europe in the early 5th century CE.

Respendial was king of one two groups of Alans which crossed the Rhine into the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 in 407 CE. The other group was led by Goar

Goar

Goar was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. He led his followers over the Rhine during the multi-tribe invasion of Gaul in 406, but quickly joined the Romans, and subsequently played a role in the internal politics of Gaul.-Invasion of Gaul:Goar is first mentioned in Gregory of Tours's...

, who joined the Romans; Respendial allied himself instead to the Vandals

Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....

, whom he aided in a battle

Battle of Mainz (406)

The Battle of Mainz was fought between the Franks and an alliance of Vandals, Suevi and Alans and took place on 31 December 406. The battle was won by the Vandals and Alans, and cleared the way for their invasion of Gaul....

 against the Franks

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 after the Vandal king Godigisel

Godigisel

Godigisel was King of the Hasdingi Vandals until his death in 406. He was killed in battle late in 406, shortly before his people forced a crossing of the Rhine River into the territory of the Roman Empire....

 was slain. Along with the Siling and Asding Vandals and a group of Sueves, Respendial's Alans crossed Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

 and settled in Hispania

Hispania

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

 in 409.

Respendial's fate is unknown; by 426, he had been succeeded by Attaces

Attaces

Addac or Attaces was king of the western Alans in Hispania . In 409, the Alans settled in the provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis: Alani Lusitaniam et Carthaginiensem provincias, et Wandali cognomine Silingi Baeticam sortiuntur...

, who was killed when the Visigoths invaded Hispania. This group of Alans thereafter united with the Asding Vandals, with whom they crossed into Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and established an independent kingdom.