August 15, 778 · The Pyrenees (Spanish frontier) Theater
August 15, 778
Retreating from an inconclusive campaign in Muslim Spain, Charlemagne's army had to recross the Pyrenees. In the narrow pass of Roncevaux, Basque warriors ambushed and annihilated the Frankish rearguard, killing its commander Roland and other great nobles before vanishing into the mountains with the baggage.
Commanders