What does the Battle of Roncesvalles tell us? Until now, we have been content to accept the historical accounts in the order in which they appear, in their very simplicity, taking into account the chronicler's position and what is customary in similar cases. From the direct testimonies, from the source testimonies, we can draw these conclusions: 1. The Battle of Roncesvalles must be considered in the diachronic context in which it takes place. It is one more of those that already occurred in Roncesvalles itself with the barbarian peoples and their successors, the Visigoths and the Franks. 2. The innumerable series of resistances and rebellions of the Basques constitutes a historical constant, which continues in later centuries. It is a continuous struggle of insubordination to integrate into the Frankish and Visigothic Empires. 3. The Roncesvalles ambush could not have been improvised in the 24 hours following Charlemagne's destruction of Pamplona. It would have been meticulously prepared by Basque leaders, whose names are unknown. Perhaps since Charlemagne's passage on the way to Zaragoza at the end of April. 4. The Basque attack threw the entire great army into great disorder: ...totum exercitum magno tumultu perturbant... (Ann. Reggii). ...throwing the entire great army into great disorder... 5. The death of almost all the commanders of the various army corps indicates the magnitude of the defeat: In hoc certamine plerique aulicorum, quos rex co piis propter praefederat, interfecti sunt... (Ann. Regii). In this battle, most of the courtiers to whom the king would have given command of the army corps were killed... 6. Such a defeat could only be carried out by a great concentration of militias from all the Basque regions, with unity of command. 7. It was the only personal defeat of Charlemagne and hence the pain of this disaster largely clouded the happy events that had taken place in Hispania in the king's heart: Cuius vulneris accepti dolor magnam partem rerum feliciter in Hispania gestarum in corde regis obnubilavit. (Ann. Regii). The pain of this failure largely clouded the happy events that had taken place in Hispania in the king's heart. 8. The battle was hard and stubborn militias equipped with heavy and veteran weapons, and guerrilla and agile militias, also accustomed, for centuries, to this type of defensive combat: Et licet Franci Wasconibus tam armis quam animis praestare viderentur, tamen et iniquitate iocorum et genere imparis puganare effecti sunt. (Ann. Regii). And although the Franks proved superior to the Basques both in weapons and in courage, nevertheless, given the harshness of the place and the unequal nature of the fighting, they found themselves inferior. 9. A century later, the first symptoms of French literary nationalism began to appear, attempting to distort the unfortunate event. We refer to the poet Saxon, whose verses present the battle as if a band of thieves had successfully plundered the baggage of the Frankish army: