On the other hand, the heavy nature of their own equipment and the unevenness of the ground completely hampered the Franks in their resistance to the Basques. In this feat the Basques were helped by the lightness of their arms and by the nature of the terrain in which the battle was fought. They then snatched up the baggage, and, protected as they were by the cover of darkness, which was just beginning to fall, scattered in all directions without losing a moment.

The Basques forced them down into the valley beneath, joined battle with them and killed them to the last man. Accounts from this dark period of European history are always problematic, but the most reliable European account of the event comes from Einhard, Charlemagne's own biographer:Īt a moment when Charlemagne's army was stretched out in a long column of march, as the nature of the local defiles forced it to be, these Basques, who had set their ambush on the very top of one of the mountains, came rushing down on the last part of the baggage train and the troops who were marching in support of the rearguard and so protecting the army which had gone on ahead. The poem is a legendary account with some basis in reality: in 778, the rearguard of Charlemagne's army was slaughtered in the Roncesvalles (old French: Rencesvals) pass of the Pyrenees mountains. The historical context of the poem therefore straddles several centuries, and to properly understand the poem we must bear in mind its rich historical background. The poem describes events happening several centuries earlier, during the reign of the mighty Christian warrior-king Charlemagne. What can be said for certain is that The Song of Roland seems animated by the spirit of the Crusades, a time when the medieval Catholic Church, at the height of its power, sought to expand Christendom into the Holy Land. 'Propaganda' here is a loose term, including a broad range of artistic creations that can intend to push listeners to action or simply paint certain policies or events from a specific perspective. This dating puts the poem's origin at the time of the First Crusade, and indeed the poem has been characterized by some scholars as 'propaganda' to encourage Christians to take up arms against Islam. In their time, they were exceedingly popular.Īlthough we know neither the identity of The Song of Roland's composer nor the date of its composition, most scholars estimate that the poem was written between 1098-1100. A hundred or so of these epic poems survive, dating from around the year 1100 to the late fourteenth century.

In old French, 'geste' means a deed or action, often of heroic proportions. It is also the oldest and greatest of the chansons de geste, medieval epic poems written in French. La Chanson de Roland, or The Song of Roland, is the oldest surviving French poem.

La Chanson de Roland by Unknown