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What happened to Charlemagneās army during its retreat from Spain?
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Charlemagne
Charlemagne, oil on limewood by Albrecht DĆ¼rer, 1512; in the collection of the German National Museum, NĆ¼rnberg, Germany.
During his retreat from Spain in 778, Charlemagneās army was ambushed by Basques at the Pass of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees.12
In this engagement, known as the Battle of Roncesvalles, the Basques attacked and completely destroyed the Frankish rear guard as it was returning to Aquitaine. Among those killed in the ambush were the seneschal Eggihard, the count palatine Anselm, and Roland, the prefect of the March of Brittany. While later literary works, such as the epic La Chanson de Roland, famously misidentify the attackers as Moors, historical accounts confirm that the ambush was carried out by the Basques.13