Battle of Roncevaux Pass 778 AD - The Legend of Roland

 

August, 778 AD.

 Somewhere in the Pyrenees Mountains...

 It's August 778.

 Charlemagne, King of the Franks and the Lombards, was marshalling his army back north across the Pyrenees after spending much of the summer campaigning in Northern Spain.

 The Frankish army marched along a narrow Roman road.

 A thick pine forest towered over the army column that stretched 10km.

 Then, as the sun was setting, the silence was broken when one of Charlemagne's prominent lieutenants from the rear-guard raised the alarm.

 It was the sound of the horn of Roland, coming from just beyond the Roncevaux pass.

 With the mountain blocking their view, the Frankish leadership in the vanguard had no way of knowing what was taking place on the other side of the pass.

 It is the year 777.

 Charlemagne, the King of the Franks and the Lombards had just concluded his third campaign against the intractable Saxons.

 The war had by now gone unabated for five years.

 After another resounding victory, Charlemagne discharged his troops and settling on Paderborn; he summoned his itinerary council to determine the lay of the land.

 Charlemagne ordered the Frankish magnates and the newly conquered Saxons to attend the assembly in a triumphant show of strength.

 As with the outcome of the previous two campaigns in 773 and 775, the main issue that consumed them was the integration of Saxony into the Frankish Kingdom.

 They set to baptising many Saxon nobles and arranged for the taking of hostages.

 Christian missionaries were recruited to confront and convert the pagans.

 At the same time, legal dictates and sanctions were introduced to break Saxon defiance.

 The death penalty was the brutal fate for those who indulged in pagan rituals or resisted and refused to countenance the King's law.

 Charlemagne was convinced that these measures would conclude the affair against the stubborn pagans between the Rhine and Elbe rivers.

 His severe and unwavering stance earned him the nickname, the "Butcher of the Saxons".

 Also at the meeting was a delegation of Muslims from Al-Andalus, representing the pro-Abbasid Governors of Barcelona and Girona, Sulayman al-Arabi, Hussein of Zaragoza, and Abu Taur of Huesca.

 The three disgruntled governors were plotting to help reinstate Abbasid rule in Al-Andalus.

 Still, their main objective was to maintain their autonomy from the Umayyad emir of Cordoba, Abd Al-Rahman, otherwise known as "the Falcon of the Quraysh".

 His rise to power in the Emirate was speedy and effective, much to the dismay of the three Governors, who turned to Charlemagne for help in exchange for their allegiance.

 Charlemagne, the puppet master who never tired of an opportunity to expand his empire, sealed the alliance with the three governors.

 The prospect of an easy takeover of Northern Iberia was too enticing, so he put his efforts in Saxony on hold and prepared to march west the next spring.

 Even Pope Adrian encouraged Charlemagne's new venture in a bid to divert the ambitions of Moorish pirates set on launching attacks from Spain onto the Italian coast.

 Charlemagne divided his force in two.

 His uncle Duke Bernard commanded troops from Provence, Septimania, and Italy.

 They advanced along the Roman Via Domitia, tasked with crossing the Pyrenees and marching towards Barcelona.

 Meanwhile, the Frankish King led the main body of the army.

 Men from Burgundy, Austrasia, Neustria, and Bavaria marched along the Via Ab Asturica Burdigalam.

 Besides planning a two-pronged attack against northern Spain, he wanted to shore up Frankish authority in Vasconia.

 Although subdued in 766 and 769, the Basque-ruled Duchy remained unscathed.

 The area south of the river Garonne was still largely self-governed.

 Beginning in 778, Charlemagne appointed loyal and capable Frankish counts on the lands bordering Vasconia, thereby undermining the influence of the Basque nobles.

 Once across the Pyrenees, the initial stage of the campaign in Iberia went well.

 Girona and Barcelona surrendered in the east, while in the west the Franks drove out the Umayyad garrison from Pamplona, the Basque capital.

 The Frankish leadership advanced to Zaragoza, expecting a warm welcome by Hussein.

 However, the city gates remained closed.

 During the several months since the meeting at Paderborn, the Governor of Zaragoza had successfully repelled Umayyad attempts to take the city.

 Thinking that he could now maintain his autonomy without Frankish interference, he was reluctant to surrender the city to Charlemagne.

 Upon learning of this, the Frankish King decided to besiege the city .

 Zaragoza was the capital of the Upper March of Al-Andalus.

 Situated on the banks of the Ebro, it boasted considerable fortifications and a mighty citadel.

 Taking it by storm would be nearly impossible.

 Despite this, the Frankish army was large enough to surround the city and restrict its port access.

 But having previously expected the city to surrender peacefully as per the agreement he had with Hussein, Charlemagne brought far too few siege engines to breach the city’s formidable defences.

 Now, he hoped that a show of strength just outside the city walls would strike fear into the population and force the governor to submit.

 Indeed, a troubled Hussein soon offered to pay off the Franks to leave; an offer met with obstinance from Charlemagne.

 The siege dragged on for a month, with Charlemagne's troops becoming increasingly worn out.

 What is more, the Frankish leadership began fearing an outbreak of disease among the rank and file – a common occurrence during long sieges.

 Worse still, news came that trouble was brewing on the other end of the Kingdom , where unrest was again seething in the troublesome Saxon region.

 Aware that a rebellion would undo years of progress in the war against the Saxons and threaten the eastern border of the Kingdom, Charlemagne agreed to negotiate with Hussein.

 He received large sums of gold as well as several important prisoners.

 While not ideal, this solution was acceptable, as it enabled the Frankish king to retrace his steps back across the Pyrenees mountains to deal with the unrest in the east.

 But before leaving the Iberian Peninsula, the Frankish king decided to further secure his hold on the Basque territory.

 He dispersed contingents to eliminate any possible opposition from the native tribes in the region, razing towns and villages to the ground, believing that many Basques were secretly allied with the Moors.

 According to some sources, during this stage of the retreat Charlemagne was ambushed by the men of al-Arabi.

 The Franks took the governor of Barcelona and Girona hostage after the unsuccessful conquest of Zaragoza, for failing to deliver the Upper March of al-Andalus as he had promised.

 Although the Franks did not suffer any losses, al-Arabi was rescued and returned to Zaragoza, where he could help lead the resistance against both the Umayyad emirate of Cordoba and the Frankish kingdom.

 As Charlemagne neared the Pyrenees, his strategy turned to Pamplona.

 Worried that the Basque capital could become a centre of defiance against further Frankish ambitions in the region, he determined to destroy the city's fortress walls.

 His strategy backfired badly.

 The Basques turned on the Frankish king, forcing him to garrison troops in the area, as the ascend into the mountains began… August 15th, 778, found the Frankish army ascending steadily north through the mountains with Pamplona behind them.

 As they passed the town of Roncevaux, they climbed over 1,000 meters towards the pass.

 The narrow road was surrounded by a thick pine forest, with just enough room for four men abreast.

 Carts lumbered in single file, and horses trudged no more than two side by side.

 The column thinned out and stretched for up to 10km.

 Charlemagne, Bernard, and his other closest advisors were in the vanguard and main body, trying to keep the men in good marching order on the winding mountain road.

 In the rear, Eggihard (Mayor of the Palace), Anselm (the King's steward), and Roland (Prefect of the Breton March) commanded the well trained and heavily armoured cavalry.

 They were tasked with protecting the baggage train that carried all the loot and the gold received at Zaragoza.

 The carriages themselves were manned by guards and positioned between the main body and the rear-guard.

 But with night approaching, poor visibility made it difficult to oversee the long column as it snaked its way along the steep slopes.

 And as the ascent became more vertical, the baggage train slowly fell behind the central column.

 With the main army making it safely over the pass, the leaders of the rearguard were not expecting any trouble.

 But… unbeknownst to the Franks, they were being watched.

 Thousands of Basques, wanting revenge for the destruction caused to their capital Pamplona, dotted the hillsides on both sides of the pass.

 Hiding in the shadows of the thick pine forest, they bided their time until dusk.

 As the baggage train approached the summit, the Basque fighters attacked.

 They pushed massive boulders down the steep mountain slopes.

 With the road blocked, the rear of the column was cut off.

 A storm of projectiles rained from above, striking down many Franks before they even realised that they’ve fallen into a trap.

 The lightly armed Basque fighters darted among the trees, throwing their javelins before quickly switching position.

 With projectiles seemingly coming from every direction, the Franks feared that the number of Basque fighters was far greater than it actually was.

 Due to the column length, what was happening in the rear took time to reach the main army.

 Then the sound of yelling men and violently neighing horses rang through the night air finally reaching the other side of the pass.

 The narrow road and thick forest on either side restricted movement.

 All Charlemagne could do was relay orders for those closest to the column's rear to aid the ambushed men.

 Meanwhile, having worn down the enemy with projectiles, Basque fighters formed into loose groups pouring down the slopes onto the enemy column.

 Stretched too thin, the Franks relied on the steadfastness of their elite units, but it was not enough.

 The cavalry in the front inevitably fell back away from their cargo, leaving the road strewn with fallen comrades.

 Chaos and confusion reigned as the front ranks collided with the troops to their rear.

 On the wagons, the guards with only the simple defence of bows and arrows, long spears and shields offered little resistance, and taken by surprise most of them fell early into the fight.

 The Franks were superior in their armament and training, but their heavy equipment proved to be no match for the agile Basques.

 The armour of the Franks weighted them down; their rehearsed and coordinated manoeuvres expertly performed on the plains of Europe were useless in the rugged terrain, against the sure-footed Basques.

 They gained some advantage as they switched from horse to foot.

 Still, they couldn’t form a shield wall on the narrow road, among the debris, fallen trees and carts.

 Up ahead, the main Frankish army scrambled over boulders in a frantic attempt to rescue their comrades, but undeterred, the Basques took up position on the debris holding them back.

 Meanwhile, the rear-guard, in desperation, attempted to organise and slog their way up towards the pass.

 But a new deluge of javelins from above stopped them in their tracks.

 Confident that they prevented all rescue attempts, and with the sun going down, the Basques moved in on the rest of the rear guard.

 North of the pass, Charlemagne himself finally managed to reach the rear, only to quickly realise that there was little he could do to help the trapped men that were by now nearly wiped out.

 In addition, as night fell, it was impossible to see far into the woods on either side of the narrow road.

 Fearing a second surprise attack against the main body of his army, Charlemagne ordered the rest of the column to advance to safety.

 Meanwhile, carnage continued.

 The Basques spared no one.

 Along with the troops, Eggihard, Anselm, and Roland stood their ground to the very end.

 As the final remnants of the rear guard broke, the Basques set about reclaiming the spoils of Charlemagne's recent victories.

 The wagon trains were relieved of treasure from Zaragoza, war supplies and loot from Northern Iberia.

 Captured horses were loaded with the spoils of war and weaponry, jewellery, and gold, disposed from the deceased enemy soldiers.

 The victorious Basques scattered, and with their newly gained wealth vanished into the darkness...

 The slaughter at Roncevaux Pass overshadowed Charlemagne’s mildly successful campaign of 778 AD.

 Frankish fatalities were significant and the loss of wealth substantial.

 It was the only significant defeat that Charlemagne ever suffered in his otherwise successful military career.

 Never again would he take it upon himself to lead an army to battle in Spain, having to rely instead on his generals for future campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula.

 Eventually, Charlemagne’s armies returned to establish the Spanish March south of the Pyrenees mountains, a buffer state between the Frankish kingdom and the Emirate of Cordoba.