Roncevaux Pass

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.

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.

Burguete (Castilian) or Auritz (Basque) is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Ernest Hemingway lodged in Burguete in 1924 and 1925 for a fishing trip to the Irati river, and describes it in his novel The Sun Also Rises.

Espinal (Aurizberri in Basque and, officially, Aurizberri/Espinal) is a Spanish town and council in the municipality of Erro in the Chartered (Foral) Community of Navarre. It is located in Merindad de Sangüesa, in the Auñamendi region. Its population in 2014 was 243 inhabitants. The town is located on the French way of the Camino de Santiago.

Luzaide (Spanish: Valcarlos; official name Luzaide/Valcarlos) is a town in Navarre, northern Spain, located on the French border and just a few kilometers from the road frontier in the French village of Arnéguy. Tradition holds that this is the valley [val-] where Charlemagne's rear-guard, under the command of Roland, was slaughtered by Vascons at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. Tradition holds that Charlemagne's troops were returning across the Pyrenees and had become stretched thin. The Vascons, unhappy with the Franks, fell upon the rear-guard and annihilated it. Roland sounded his horn but it was in vain as his horn was split upon a rock near Roncesvalles and he was slain along with his force. This battle at Valcarlos would prove to be Charlemagne's worst, and some say only, defeat in Iberia. Today's Luzaide is a conglomeration of historical family villas and farms. The family homes are traditional with many whitewashed exteriors and family crests or coats of arms on the exterior. Many of the local landowners, such as the owners of Curutzezahar, a family home one kilometre up the hillside from the village center, have turned their homes into bed-and-breakfast style lodgings for the growing rural tourism industry in the Basque Country. Historically, families would be less associated with the town in which they lived and more with the home in which they were raised. Thus, using the prior home name, Curutzezaharreko would denote one who is from the house of Curutzezahar. The local cemetery shows that regional nomenclature on many headstones. The town lies on the Camino de Santiago or Camino Francés pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. There are two routes through the region, one of which passes through the town. There is a modern monument to the pilgrimage road near the city hall representing a recumbent pilgrim. According to the locals, who make no apologies to Roncesvalles, which is located a few kilometres further along the road, Luzaide/Valcarlos is the true jumping off point for pilgrims in Spain who are travelling to Santiago.

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.

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

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

The Battle of Orbaizeta was fought from 15 to 17 October 1794 during the War of the Pyrenees, between the French Army of the western Pyrenees led by Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey and Spanish forces under the command of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna. Part of the wider French Revolutionary Wars, this engagement was fought over a wide area to the northwest and northeast of Pamplona in Navarre and ended in a French victory. The Spanish defenders gave up territory to the north of Pamplona, including a number of strategic locations.

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.