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Batalla de Roncesvalles (778)

Orreaga/Roncesvalles, Pirineo, Navarra

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

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Batalla de Roncesvalles (778)

Historical milestone · Orreaga/Roncesvalles, Pirineo, Navarra

Image of Orreaga/Roncesvalles, not of the place itself.

On 15 August 778, at the Roncesvalles pass, the Vascones ambushed and annihilated the rear guard of Charlemagne's army, which was returning to France after a failed campaign against Zaragoza. Three centuries later, the "Song of Roland" (late 11th century) turned that ambush into a great pitched battle against the Saracens and its commander, Roland, into a legendary hero of medieval chivalry, radically transforming the historical episode into epic material.

15 de agosto de 778

Photo: Ángel M. Felicísimo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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