Battle of Roncevaux Pass (824)
| 2nd Battle of Roncevaux Pass | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Louis the Pious' attempt to control the Marca Hispanica and Vasconia | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
| Franks, Basques (Gascons) | Basques (Navarrese, Aragonese), Qasawi Muslims | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Count Aeblus, Duke (Count) Aznar Sánchez | Unknown (speculated: Enneko Aritza and Musa II Al-Qasawi) |
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| Strength | |||||
| Unknown | Unknown (guerrilla party) | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| Carolingian expedition crushed, commanders captured | Unknown | ||||
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass was a battle in which 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 immediate establishment of the independent Kingdom of Pamplona.
After Louis the Pious' half-hearted expedition to Pamplona circa 814, Basque tribal chieftain Enneko Aritza, who held strong family ties with the Banu Qasi led by his half-brother Musa, prevailed in the fortress circa 816 (or earlier) after news of Charlemagne's death (814) spread and a Frankish vassal, Belasko of Pamplona— Velasco, cited as Balashk al-Yalashki in Muslim sources—was defeated in the Battle of Pancorbo. In 816, the revolt in Pamplona extended north across the Pyrenees, and in 816 Louis the Pious deposed Seguin (Sihimin) Duke of Vasconia and count of Bordeaux, who had been created duke of Vasconia in 812, for failing to suppress or sympathising with the rebellion, triggering a widespread revolt.
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