page_title: Battle of Roncevaux Pass
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Roncevaux Pass / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: , English: Monument commemorating the 12th centenary of the battle of Roncevaux Pass, Orreaga-Roncesvalles, Navarre, Spain Español: Monumento conmemorativo de la batalla de Roncesvalles, Roncesvalles, Navarra, España Euskara: Orreagako Guduaren 12. mendeurrenaren oroitarria, Orreaga, Nafarroa Français&#160;: Monument commémorant la baraille de Ronceveau, Ronceveau, Navarre, Espagne Italiano: Monumento commemorativo della Battaglia di Roncisvalle, Roncisvalle, Navarra, Spagna
context_page_description: The Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
  The Basque attack was a retaliation for Charlemagne's destruction of the city walls of their capital, Pamplona. As the Franks retreated across the Pyrenees back to Francia, the rearguard of Frankish lords was cut off, stood its ground, and was wiped out.
  Among those killed in the battle was Roland, a Frankish commander. His death elevated him and that of the paladins, the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, into legend, becoming the quintessential role model for knights and also greatly influencing the code of chivalry in the Middle Ages. There are numerous written works about the battle, some of which change and exaggerate events. The battle is recounted in the 11th century The Song of Roland, the oldest surviving major work of French literature, and in Orlando Furioso, one of the most celebrated works of Italian literature.
context_section_description: 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 the battle, was written by an unknown poet of the 11th century. It is the earliest surviving of the chansons de geste or epic poems of medieval France in the langue d'oïl, in what would become the French language. Together with the Knights of the Round Table in Britain, the story of Roland and the paladins have become the archetypal icons of chivalry in Europe; greatly influencing knightly culture and inspiring many Christian warriors that came after. During the Battle of Hastings in 1066, knights and soldiers under William the Conqueror, chanted the poem to inspire themselves before their fight with the Anglo-Saxons. The English expression, "to give a Roland for an Oliver", meaning either to offer a quid pro quo or to give as good as one gets, which is referenced directly from the companionship of Roland and Oliver during the battle. One example was said during the Combat of the Thirty in 1351; a judicial combat between two groups of knights during the Breton War of Succession. The knights were described by the French author Jean Froissart as "if they had been all Rolands and Olivers," which admired their honor and companionship in battle. Memorials have also been erected to commemorate the battle, such as the Roncesvalles Pass Monument in Navarre, Spain. Roland's Breach, situated in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, is a gap thought to have been caused by Roland while fighting. At the summit of the Roncevaux Pass are the remains of an early chapel of San Salvador also known as Charlemagne's Chapel and the Charlemagne Monument built in 1934; both built to commemorate the Emperor's campaign in the region.
  The song is also commemorated in the Italian literary classic Orlando Furioso. The battle is also referenced in the song "Roncevaux" by Van der Graaf Generator, originally recorded in 1972 but only released in rather rough form many years later on the album Time Vaults. The battle and Orlando's sacrifice inspired several composers, amongst whom were Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel, who composed an Italian-language opera with Orlando. Modern adaptations of the battle drew heavily on the romanticized versions. A 1978 French film La chanson de Roland features an adaptation of the Song of Roland and features the battle as depicted in the poem. The battle is also featured minimally in the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, in which Roland is named Orlando, an amalgamation of fictional characters that were named Roland and Orlando.
caption: Monument commemorating the 12th centenary of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, Roncesvalles, Navarre, Spain.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L11", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX L11 V1.0", "Image DateTime": "2008:08:16 18:46:48", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Copyright 2006", "Image ExifOffset": "2330", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "37856", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6074", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/503", "EXIF FNumber": "31/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:16 18:46:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:16 18:46:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "38/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2112", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "37724", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "45", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4156"}