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- 8th century
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- 11th century
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- 13th century
- 14th century
- 15th century
- Post-Reconquista Rebellions
- North Africa
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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 Sanchez
in 824. The clash was to have further reaching consequences than those of the 778 engagement: the establishment of the independent
Kingdom of Pamplona
.
Background
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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.
The Basque lords on both sides of the Pyrenees rebelled, but were soon subdued in
Dax
by Louis (817). Lupus Centullo was then appointed duke (818), but was immediately deposed after he rebelled. Meanwhile, in Aragon (Jaca) the pro-Frankish count Aznar Galindez was overthrown by Enneko's allied count Garcia Malo (Garcia, 'the young' in old Basque) in 820. All Vasconia remained at this point in a shaky state of rebellion and the Frankish tenure on the
Hispanic Marches
was shifting out of control.
The battle
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Roman watchtower of Urkulu next to the Roncevaux Pass
In 824 an expedition was mustered by the Carolingian king in the Vasconia remaining under Frankish overlordship (north of the Pyrenees). The military force was headed by the Duke of Vasconia Aznar Sanchez, who led Basque troops hailing from current
Gascony
, and count Aeblus ("
Aeblus et Asinarius comites cum copiis Wasconum ad Pampilonam missi
"), commanding a Frankish army. The military force headed south with a view to quashing the Basque rebellion centred in
Pamplona
. The expedition arrived in the Basque stronghold, but encountered no resistance, and with the expedition having accomplished their goals, made their way back north with goods looted from the town.
According to Umayyad chroniclers, a joint force of Navarrese (Enneko Aritza), Aragonese and Banu Qasi warriors, hidden in the forests, awaited the Carolingian army on the sinuous narrow passes of the region of
Cize
. The Basques engaged the two columns in their terrain. The Carolingian forces were routed, and the two commanders of the expedition were captured.
Aftermath
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]
The
Cize
mountain passes
While the Frankish count Aeblus was sent prisoner to
Cordoba
,
Aznar Sanchez
was released thanks to his kinship with the captors ("
Asinarius vero misericordia eorum, qui eum ceperant, quasi qui consanguineus eorum esset
") a fact that evidenced the good relations entertained at that moment by the joint Banu Qasi - Arista tandem with the Cordovan Umayyad, maybe after the accession to the throne of
Abd ar-Rahman II
in 822.
Enneko Aritza
emerged victorious after the battle and became the undisputed ruler of Pamplona. The new independent Basque kingdom brought about the definite detachment of the territories south of the Pyrenees from the
Duchy of Vasconia
suzerain to the Franks, as well as the loss of control over the Hispanic Marches for them and the start of an on-off alliance between the kings of Pamplona and the
muwallad
Banu Qasi.
References
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