E-raamat: Charlemagne's Defeat in the Pyrenees: The Battle of Rencesvals

Despite its impact, the battle has not been studied in detail. There is indeed no book dedicated to the comprehensive description of the battle, including its genesis and subsequent resonance in the political affairs of the continent. Focusing on British historiography of the battle we must conclude that although there are many and extensive studies on the reign of Charlemagne and his times there is no book dealing exclusively on the battle, which represents the worst military disaster in the emperor's life and one of the major defeats of a royal army confronting a small number of adversaries in the Middle Ages. While the history of Vasconia has been analyzed in Basque, Spanish and even French, very few studies in English have discussed the genesis and further development of Vasconia during the eighth century or the formation of the kingdom of Pamplona in 824. By the same token, many of the most prominent historical figures, such as the Basque leaders Eudo the Great, Hunald, Waiofar or Lupus II Otsoa have little or no literature in English. The same is true of Eneko Aritza, and of his allies, the Islamized Basques of the Banu Qasi family. The book is based entirely on original sources, contemporaneous with the events, many of which were published in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica collection and have been translated from Latin, Romance or Basque by the author. Some of these contemporary sources are here first presented in English, as well as most Arabic sources and fragments of the Basque tradition recounting the battle. Finally, there is no other topographical study of the battle’s locale. For ten consecutive years I have had the assistance and support of the forest rangers of the Government of Navarre from Altzuzate Pass to the Pyrenean Zize Pass in my efforts to understand the landscape of the battle and wider context. No other scholar has had such access. The Battle of Errozabal (Rencesvals) is the one of the most significant historical events of eighth century Vasconia and in all Western Europe. The present monograph examines Charlemagne’s campaign from the perspective of military history but also as part of a complex socio-political process that began after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and culminated with the creation of the Kingdom of Pamplona in 824. The battle had major (and largely underappreciated) consequences for the Carolingian Empire. It also enjoyed a remarkable legacy as the topic of one of the oldest European epic poems, La Chanson de Roland. The events that took place in the Pyrenean pass of Errozabal on 15 August 778 defined the development of the Carolingian world, and lie at the heart of the early medieval contribution to the later medieval period.