Concept

Battle of Roncesvalles

Who intervened at Roncesvalles? In this complicated affair, two distinct events must be distinguished: the Triad of Charlemagne and the Battle of Roncesvalles. Charlemagne was brought in by the Muslim governors Abu Thawr and Suleiman Ibn al-Arabi, perhaps with the complicity of some Basque leaders. Emir Abd al-Rahman I was not interested in the affair of Roncesvalles but in the summons to Charlemagne to take charge of the promised cities. The campaign that the Emir launched three years later to punish those involved in the events revealed several punished Basque regions, such as Calahorra and Viguera, the land of Ximen the Strong, the country of Ibn Belascot, and Pamplona. This punitive expedition came after having settled accounts in Zaragoza and confirmed Ibn Husayn's position. Another expedition headed to distant regions such as Collioure and Cerda a in the eastern Pyrenees. We do not know who dominated Calahorra, Viguera and other lands of lower Rioja, although it is presumed that they depended on Zaragoza or some wal whose name is unknown. The land of Ximen the Strong was next to and will be the land of Deyern around Estella. We do not know what Ibn Balaskot, or son of Balasko, could be called but he has left a trace in the name Belaskoain, Estella and Pamplona. On the other hand, Pamplona remains there without specifying its extension or the name of its duke or political-military leader. That it was a Christian possession is beyond doubt since the chronicle Fatho-l-Andaluci says verbatim that Abderramán I entered the territory of the Infidels, subjugating Pamplona. It is presumed that the Banukasi dominated lands very close to Tudela, which they seized shortly after in 802-803. The victors at Roncesvalles were the Basques, but who commanded them? Certainly, Ximeno the Strong, Belascot, and the unnamed chieftain from Pamplona could have participated. But who else participated? The chieftains of the northern regions of Vasconia could have participated, without Lupo II intervening, allowing it to happen because, according to Ermoldus Nigellus, who lived during the time of Louis the Pious, the Basque duke's loyalty was in doubt. Auzias thinks it is possible that he organized or promoted the aggression, not, at least, that he allowed it to happen.