"Roncesvalles Roncesvalles (; , , ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French frontier as the crow flies, or by road. Roncesvalles is famous in history and legend for the defeat of Charlemagne and the death of Roland in 778, during the battle of Roncevaux Pass, when Charlemagne's rear guard was destroyed by Basque tribes. When a party of horsemen from the Kingdom of Navarre arrived at the Duchy of Burgundy in 1439 to negotiate Prince Charles"
"August 778, the rearguard of the Frankish army, led by Roland was attacked by the Basque tribes in a confrontation that came to be known as the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Roland was killed and the rearguard scattered. As a response to the attempted Frankish seizure of Zaragoza, the Córdoba Emir retook the city of Pamplona and its surrounding lands. In 781 two local Basque lords, ""Ibn Balask"" (""son of Velasco""), and ""Mothmin al-Akra"" (""Jimeno ""the Strong"""") were defeated and forced to submit. The next mention of Pamplona is in 799, when Mutarrif ibn Musa, thought to have been a"
"the Pyrenees in 778. Near the city of Zaragoza Charlemagne received the homage of Sulayman al-Arabi. However the city, under the leadership of Husayn, closed its gates and refused to submit. Unable to conquer the city by force, Charlemagne decided to retreat. On the way home the rearguard of the army was ambushed and destroyed by Basque forces at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Song of Roland, a highly romanticized account of this battle, would later become one of the most famous chansons de geste of the Middle Ages. Around 788 Abd ar-Rahman I died and was succeeded by"
"occupation. After securing the region, Charlemagne marched for the Pyrenees mountain pass in hopes of returning to France. Many of his notable lords, such as Roland, military governor of the Breton March, and Eggihard, Mayor of the Palace, were placed in the rearguard probably to protect the retreat and the baggage train. Unknown to Charlemagne, the enraged Basques sent their warriors in pursuit of him and his army in retaliation for the destruction of their city, and the Basques' knowledge of the region helped them overtake the Franks. In the evening of August 15, 778, Charlemagne's rearguard was suddenly attacked"
"According to the locals, who make no apologies to Roncesvalles, which is located a few kilometres further along the road, Luzaide/Valcarlos is the true jumping off point for pilgrims in Spain who are travelling to Santiago. Luzaide/Valcarlos Luzaide (Spanish: Valcarlos; official name Luzaide/Valcarlos) is a Basque town in Navarre, northern Spain, located just a few kilometers from the French border and the village of Arnéguy. Tradition holds that this is the valley [""val""-] where Charlemagne's rear-guard, under the command of Roland, was slaughtered by Vascons at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. Tradition holds that Charlemagne's troops were returning"
"Basques and ransacked Aquitaine. After several military setbacks, the Basques pledged submission to Pippin on the river Garonne (Fronsac, c. 769). At this time (7-8th centuries), Vasconia is sometimes mentioned as stretching from the lands of Cantabria in the south-west all the way to the river Loire in the north pointing to a not preponderant but clearly significant Basque presence in Aquitaine (i.e. between Garonne and Loire). Vasconia’s newly suppressed resistance cleared the way for the Frankish army to deal with Charlemagne’s interests in the Spanish marches (siege of Zaragoza). After pulling down the walls of Pamplona, Roland's rear guard"
"side and from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side. The pass divides the valley of the Nive on the north from the valley of the Irati on the south. In 778 Roland, the warden of the Breton March, had accompanied Charlemagne on his campaign into the Iberian peninsula across the Western Pyrenees. Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, mentions in his ""Vita Karoli Magni"" a fatal event involving Vasconian raiders who laid an ambush by hiding in the woods on top of a high mountain while Frankish troops were crossing the mountain pass. Subsequently, the raiders attacked the rear guards of the"
"Frankish army on their way down into the valley. According to Einhard, Eggihard, the King's steward; Anselm (""Anshelmus""), Count Palatine; and Roland (""Hruodlandus""), Governor of the March of Brittany, with very many others, lost their lives during that ambush. According to tradition, Roncesvalles is the site where this event took place in 778, and hence today the battle is called Battle of Roncesvalles, a landmark in Basque history leading to the foundation of the Kingdom of Pamplona. There is a stone monument near the pass commemorating the area where it is traditionally held that Roland died. Nonetheless, the inhabitants of"
"conflicts between Basques, Franks and Muslims. Most famous is the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, during which Basques ambushed and slaughtered Charlemagne's rearguard after the Franks destroyed the walls of Pamplona. Heavily mythologised from the 11th century on as a clash between Christians and Muslims, this battle became one of the most celebrated events in the legendary Matter of France. Muslims attacked Vasconia as well, taking possession of Pamplona for some time, but they were expelled by a rebellion in 798-801 that helped to create the Basque Muslim realm of the Banu Qasi around Tudela. In 806 Pamplona, still under"
"Roland's Breach Roland's Breach (; ; ; ; ; ) is the name of a natural gap, 40 m across and 100 m high, at an elevation of 2804 m in the Pyrenees on the border of Aragón, northern Spain, and Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The gap is situated in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park on the Franco-Spanish border, close to the steep cliffs of the Cirque de Gavarnie. According to legend Roland's Breach was cut by Count Roland with his sword Durendal in an attempt to destroy the sword, after being defeated during the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778."
"Valcarlos continue to claim that Valcarlos is the historic site where the battle of 778 took place because Charlemagne's troops were on their way back into the Frankish realm. On 25 July 1813 a battle between French Napoleonic troops and Anglo-Portuguese forces took place at the Roncesvalles Pass during the Peninsular War (1808–1814). This Battle of Roncesvalles ended in an Anglo-Portuguese defeat. Roncevaux Pass Pass of Roncesvalles or Roncesvalles Pass (also ""Ronceval"" or ""Roncevaux""), (; ; ; elevation 1057 m) is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees near the border between France and Spain. The pass itself is entirely"
"consolidating the independence of both realms. Over the years, this battle was romanticized by oral tradition into a major conflict between Christians and Muslims although in fact, the Basques of the period were mainly Pagans and Charlemagne had been allied to some of the Muslims. In the tradition, the Basques are replaced by a force of 400,000 Saracens, and mythical objects such as durendal and oliphant were also added. Although Roland died in the battle with little information about him, the battle popularized him as a chivalric hero of honor in the Middle Ages. ""The Song of Roland"", which commemorates"
"778 the town was in hands of a Basque local or a Muslim rebel faction loyal to the Franks at the moment of Charlemagne's crossing of the Pyrenees to the south. However, on his way back from the failed expedition to Saragossa in August, the walls and probably the town were destroyed by Charlemagne (ahead of the Frankish defeat in the famous Battle of Roncevaux), out of fear that the anti-Frankish party strong in the town might use the position against him. After Abd al-Rahman I's conquest, Pamplona and its hinterland remained in a state of shaky balance between Franks,"
"801. The main passes in the Pyrenees were Roncesvalles, Somport and La Jonquera. Charlemagne established across them the vassal regions of Pamplona, Aragon, and Catalonia respectively. Catalonia was itself formed from a number of small counties, including Pallars, Girona, and Urgell; it was called the ""Marca Hispanica"" by the late 8th century. They protected the eastern Pyrenees passes and shores and were under the direct control of the Frankish kings. Pamplona's first king was Iñigo Arista, who allied with his Muslim kinsmen the Banu Qasi and rebelled against Frankish overlordship and overcame a Carolingian expedition in 824 that led to"
"ar-Rahman. Seeing an opportunity to extend Christendom and his own power, Charlemagne agreed to go to Spain. Al-Arabi induced him to invade al Andalus by promising him an easy surrender of its Upper March, of which Zaragoza was the capital. Following the sealing of this alliance at Paderborn, Charlemagne marched across the Pyrenees in 778 ""at the head of all the forces he could muster"". Charlemagne led the Neustrian army over Vasconia into the Western Pyrenees, while the Austrasians, Lombards, and Burgundians passed over the Eastern Pyrenees through Catalonia. His troops were welcomed in Barcelona and Girona by Sulayman al-Arabi."
"siege at Zaragoza, Charlemagne decided to return to his kingdom. On his retreat, Charlemagne suffered an attack from the Basques in central Navarra. As a reprisal he attacked Pamplona, destroying it. However, on his retreat north his baggage train was ambushed by the Basques at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass on August 15, 778. After these campaigns, there were again numerous embassies between Charlemagne and the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid from 797, apparently in view of a Carolingian-Abbasid alliance against Byzantium, or with a view to gaining an alliance against the Umayyads of Spain. Indeed, ""Charles's conflict with the Umayyad"
"Battle of Gravelines (1558) The Battle of Gravelines was fought on 13 July 1558 at Gravelines, near Calais, France. It occurred during the twelve-year war between France and Spain (1547–1559). The battle resulted in a victory by the Spanish forces, led by Lamoral, Count of Egmont, over the French, led by Marshal Paul de Thermes. The Spanish were supported by the English Navy, who opened fire on the French as they reached the sand dunes at Gravelines. Following the dominance of the Spanish forces, led by Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, at the Battle of St. Quentin, Henry II of"
"by Frankish forces in 801. A number of castles were established in Aragón between 798 and 802 (appointment of Count Aureolus). After subduing the Basques to the north of the Pyrenees (790), Frankish overlordship expanded to the upper Ebro (794) and Pamplona (798), when Alphonse II of Asturias came also under Charlemagne's influence. Sobrarbe was not incorporated into the March, as it appears later in history and was probably within the area of influence of the County of Aragon. The death of Charlemagne (814) was followed by a scene of open revolt and Carolingian setbacks around the Pyrenees. After defeat"
"envoys to Charlemagne, offering his fealty along with that of Abu Taur of Huesca and Husayn of Zaragoza in exchange for his support in their rebellion against Córdoba. The Frankish monarch marched south and took Barcelona, but when he arrived at Zaragoza he found the marcher lords to have had a change of heart, and the city was closed to him. After an unsuccessful siege, Charlemagne withdrew through the Pyrenees, where his rear guard was ambushed at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. This marked the end of significant Frankish attempts to expand into Iberia, and in 795 Charlemagne would establish"
"Second Battle of Boulou The Second Battle of Boulou (29 April to 1 May 1794) was a battle in the War of the Pyrenees, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. This battle saw the French Army of the eastern Pyrenees led by Jacques François Dugommier attacking the joint Spanish-Portuguese Army of Catalonia under Luis Firmin de Carvajal, Conde de la Union. Dugommier's decisive victory resulted in the French regaining nearly all the land they lost to the Kingdom of Spain in 1793. Le Boulou is on the modern A9 highway, south of the department capital at Perpignan and north of"
"preparing an invasion force against the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rhaman I. Following the sealing of this alliance at Paderborn, Charlemagne marched across the Pyrenees in 778 ""at the head of all the forces he could muster"". His troops were welcomed in Barcelona and Girona by Sulayman al-Arabi. As he moved towards Zaragoza, the troops of Charlemagne were joined by troops led by Sulayman. Husayn of Zaragoza, however, refused to surrender the city, claiming that he had never promised Charlemagne his allegiance. Meanwhile, the force sent by the Baghdad caliphate seems to have been stopped near Barcelona. After a month of"
"Battle of the Pyrenees The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián. After initial success the offensive ground to a halt in face of increased allied resistance under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington. Soult abandoned the offensive on 30 July and headed toward France, having failed to relieve either garrison. The Battle of the Pyrenees involved several distinct actions. On 25 July,"
"across the Pyrenees Mountains while Sir Roland guarded the rear of his army some distance behind. If ambushed by the enemy, Roland had been instructed to blow the trumpet and Charlemagne would charge to his assistance. Roland was indeed attacked, and in overwhelming numbers. Roland faced a terrible decision: if he called in Charlemagne's forces, all of the army faced destruction, or if he did not sound the trumpet Charlemagne and the main army would continue to safety while he and his tiny command would surely die. Gallantly, Roland and his men put the war horn away and prepared to"
"War of the Pyrenees The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The war was fought in the eastern Pyrenees, the western Pyrenees, at the French port of Toulon, and at sea. In 1793, a Spanish army invaded Roussillon in the eastern Pyrenees and maintained itself on French soil through April 1794. The French army drove"
"of the War of the Pyrenees, having commanded the Spanish left wing at the Battle of Boulou in 1794. De Vives attacked the French outpost line on 6 November. After this, the Spanish remained quiescent until 26 November when de Vives' offensive forced the French to take refuge behind the walls of Barcelona. In the fall of 1808, the 20,031 men of the Army of Catalonia were organized into a vanguard, four divisions, and a reserve. Brigadier General Mariano Álvarez de Castro led the Vanguard with 5,500 infantry in 10 battalions and 100 cavalry in one squadron. Mariscal de Campo"
"by the Basques as they crossed the mountain pass. The Franks were caught off guard by the surprise attack, with their army in confusion and disarray as they tried to escape the ambush. The Basques managed to cut off and isolate the Frankish rearguard and the baggage train from the rest of the escaping army, and although the Basques were not as well equipped, they held the upper ground and the knowledge of the terrain that gave them a huge advantage in the skirmish. As Charlemagne tried to regroup and evacuate his army, Roland and the others held for a"
"the ""Army of the Eastern Pyrenees"" and the ""Army of the Western Pyrenees"". In the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May 1793, Ricardos defeated Louis-Charles de Flers. This allowed the Spanish to invest the Fort de Bellegarde on 23 May. The Siege of Bellegarde ended when the French garrison surrendered on 24 June. In the Battle of Perpignan on 17 July, de Flers turned back the Spanish, though French losses were heavier. On 28 August, Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert defeated a Spanish force under Manuel la Peña at Puigcerdà in the Cerdagne. In September, Ricardos sent two divisions under"
"Battle of Peyrestortes The Battle of Peyrestortes (17 September 1793) saw soldiers of the First French Republic fighting troops of the Kingdom of Spain during the War of the Pyrenees. Forces from the French Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, temporarily commanded by Eustache Charles d'Aoust and Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet, defeated two divisions of the Army of Catalonia led by Juan de Courten and Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarillas. This Spanish setback in an attempt to capture Perpignan marked the high point of their invasion of Roussillon. The Spanish army of Antonio Ricardos had occupied part of Rousillon and"
"literature. Modern adaptations of the battle include books, plays and works of fiction, and monuments in the Pyrenees. With the rise of the Carolingians and Pepin the Short's war on Aquitaine, the Duchy of Aquitaine led by Waifer was defeated and further ensued Frankish penetration into the duchy. The Basques (""Vascones"", ""Wascones"") of the Duchy of Vasconia, one of the mainstays of the Aquitanian army, submitted to Pepin in 766 and 769, but the territory south of the Garonne remained largely unscathed and self-governed. However, as of 778 Charlemagne expanded Frankish takeover of Aquitaine to present-day Gascony, by appointing trusted"
"Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 by the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. This battle was the first ever open field defeat of the Napoleonic army. The heaviest fighting took place near Bailén (sometimes anglicized ""Baylen""), a village by the Guadalquivir river in the Jaén province of southern Spain. In June 1808, following the widespread uprisings against the French occupation of Spain, Napoleon organized French units into flying columns to"
"over to the new King of the Franks to whom he pledged loyalty, which seemed to confirm the peace in the Basque area south of the Garonne. Wary of new Basque uprisings, Charlemagne seems to have tried to contain Duke Lupus's power by appointing Seguin as the Count of Bordeaux (778) and other counts of Frankish background in bordering areas (, County of Fézensac). The Basque Duke, in turn, seems to have contributed decisively or schemed the Battle of Roncevaux Pass (referred to as ""Basque treachery""). The defeat of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux (778) confirmed his determination to rule directly"
"and defeated them after banishing Adalric (790). From 781 (Pallars, Ribagorça) to 806 (Pamplona under Frankish influence), taking the County of Toulouse for a power base, Charlemagne asserted Frankish authority over the Pyrenees by subduing the south-western marches of Toulouse (790) and establishing vassal counties on the southern Pyrenees that were to make up the Marca Hispanica. As of 794, a Frankish vassal, the Basque lord Belasko (""al-Galashki"", 'the Gaul') ruled Álava, but Pamplona remained under Cordovan and local control up to 806. Belasko and the counties in the Marca Hispánica provided the necessary base to attack the Andalusians (an"
"to have further reaching consequences than those of the 778 engagement: the immediate establishment of the independent Kingdom of Pamplona. After Louis the Pious' half-hearted expedition to Pamplona circa 814, Basque tribal chieftain Enneko Aritza, who held strong family ties with the Banu Qasi led by his half-brother Musa, prevailed in the fortress circa 816 (or earlier) after news of Charlemagne's death (814) spread and a Frankish vassal, Belasko of Pamplona— ""Velasco"", cited as ""Balashk al-Yalashki"" in Muslim sources—was defeated in the Battle of Pancorbo. In 816, the revolt in Pamplona extended north across the Pyrenees, and in 816 Louis"