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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 pass was defended by the British 4th Division commanded by Major-General Galbraith Lowry Cole and was helped by the Portuguese 4/10 brigade. The French attacked from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port advancing in two columns either side of the pass. Clausel on the Altobiscar and Reille on the Linduz.
The battle is said to have been fought in the valley known as Valcarlos, which is now occupied by a hamlet bearing the same name, and in the adjoining pass of Ibañeta (Roncevaux Pass). Both of these are traversed by the main road leading north from Roncesvalles to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, in the French Basque Country.
Roland holds Durendal while blowing his olifant to summon help at the Battle of Roncevaux, as described in the Chanson de Roland; painting by Wolf von Bibra (1862–1922). Durendal , also spelled Durandal , is the sword of Roland , a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature.
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.
This fragment depicts the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, when Roland, retainer of Charlemagne, fought King Marsile of Saragossa for control of Spain. The story is taken from the Song of Roland, an epic French poem frequently used to rally the troops.
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