Battle of Orbaizeta

Orbaizeta is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.

Aezkoa Valley is an administrative unit of Navarre, Spain. It is formed by several smaller municipalities: Abaurregaina, Abaurrepea, Aria, Aribe (seat of the Valley administration), Garraioa, Garralda, Hiriberri (town), Orbaitzeta and Orbara. The valley has c. 1200 people inscribed as residents but only around 800 live there regularly.

Orbara is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.

Hiriberri/Villanueva de Aezkoa is a town and municipality located in the north of Navarre. It belongs to the Valley of Aezkoa, together with several villages.

Aria is a village and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.

Garralda is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.

Urkulu (1,419 m) is a mountain in the Basque Country straddling the border between France and Spain. The summit is located in the western Pyrenees, within walking distance from Roncevaux and close to the so-called French Way of St James, which crosses the mountain range at the historic Roncevaux Pass.

Abaurrepea/Abaurrea Baja (Abaurrepea is the Basque name, Abaurrea Baja the Spanish; both are recognised officially) is a municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre (Spanish: Navarra), northern Spain. It is situated approximately 67 km from the provincial capital, Pamplona. As of 2005 INE figures, the municipality has a population of c. 41 inhabitants. Abaurrepea/Abaurrea Baja has an area of 11.1 km², and a median elevation above mean sea level of 855 m.

Abaurregaina / Abaurrea Alta (Abaurregaina is the Basque name, Abaurrea Alta its name in Spanish; both are recognised officially) is a municipality and inhabited locality situated in the province and autonomous community of Navarre (Spanish: Navarra), northern Spain. It is situated some 70 km from the provincial capital, Pamplona. As of 2005 INE figures, the municipality had a population of c. 150 inhabitants.The municipality has an area of some 20.9 km², and with a median elevation of 1039 m is the highest municipality in Navarre.

Roncesvalles ( RON-sə-val(z), Spanish: [ronθezˈβaʎes]; Basque: Orreaga [oreaɣa]; Aragonese: Ronzesbals [ronθezˈbals]; French: Roncevaux [ʁɔ̃s(ə)vo]) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some 900 metres (3,000 ft) in the Pyrenees, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the French border as the crow flies, or 21 kilometres (13 mi) by road.

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass (French and English spelling, Roncesvalles in Spanish, Orreaga in Basque) 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 in 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 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. Modern adaptations of the battle include books, plays, works of fiction, and monuments in the Pyrenees.

During the Battle of Roncevaux Pass a combined Basque-Qasawi Muslim army defeated a Carolingian military expedition in 824. The battle took place only 46 years after the first Battle of Roncevaux Pass (778) in a confrontation showing similar features: a Basque force engaging from the mountains, a northbound expedition led by the Franks, and the same geographical setting (the Roncevaux Pass or a spot nearby). The battle resulted in the defeat of the Carolingian military expedition and the capture of its commanders Aeblus and Aznar Sánchez in 824. The clash was to have further reaching consequences than those of the 778 engagement: the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Pamplona.