Roncesvalles

“ The Coming of the Brethren to England (1229) and the Foundation of the Convent at Charing. The first knowledge we have of the presence in England of members of the Community of Roncesvalles is obtained from the letters of protection given to certain brethren by Henry III, in the year 1229. These letters were of the usual complete character, and it is clear that the intention of the deputation from Roncesvalles was to seek alms in England for the support of their House in the remote valley in the Pyrenees. This purpose was definitely encouraged by a special clause in the letters of protection. ”

“ Sweetly across the path of Roncesvalles blow the evening gales, wafting tender messages to the listening girls below. Green grows the grass and gay the flowers that spring from the blood of princely paladins, the flower of chivalry. No bugle-blast can bring old Roland back, though it wind long and loud through the echoing woods. Lads and lasses, worthy scions of valiant stems, may sit on happy evenings in the shadow of the vines, or group themselves on the greensward in the pauses of the dance, and sing their songs of battle and victory,—the olden legends of their heroic sires ”

“ And every paladin and peer
On Roncesvalles died!"
Of the few writers who have visited this region, all make airy mention of the battle of Roncesvalles; scarcely one, however, condescends to details. Yet it gave rise to a great epic poem,—the greatest epic of France, the delight of all her ancient minstrels. One often hears named the Song of Roland; one seldom hears more than the name. By many the charm of its story is all unknown.
"In truth and fact," observes a recent anonymous writer, "the chain can claim one single real legend. ”

“ Burguete stands in the centre of a little cup-like valley; and prominent upon the further lip rises a big domed hill, one of the flankers of the pass. It is a sleek, smooth mountain, upholstered with green turf, and spangled with grazing sheep; and the big round beeches and chestnuts herd together all over its crest, as domesticated as on an English lawn. Yet the little hillock beneath it was the scene of one of the greatest of tragedies; for there stood the abbey of Roncesvalles, the sepulchre of Charlemagne’s slaughtered Peers. ”

“ There, on the battle-fields of Spain,
Midst Roncesvalles' mountain-scene,
Or on Vittoria's blood-red plain,
Meet had thy death-bed been.
We mourn not that a hero's life,
Thus in its ardent prime should close ”

“ Roncesvalles is famous in history and legend for the defeat of Charlemagne and the death of Roland (q.v.) in 778. The small collegiate church contains several curious relics associated with Roland, and is a favourite place of pilgrimage. The battle is said to have been fought in the picturesque valley known as Val Carlos, which is now occupied by a hamlet bearing the same name, and in the adjoining defile of Ibaneta. Both of these are traversed by the main road leading north from Roncesvalles to St Jean Pied de Port, in France. ”

“ No sooner had Marsilius learned that Ganelon was carrying out his plan and that Roland was to be left behind with only the rear guard, than he sent swift-riding messengers in every direction to summon his mighty men to meet him at Roncesvalles to await the coming of Roland. Before the rear guard reached the pass, a vast army of four hundred thousand men lay concealed in the rocky and woody fastnesses around Roncesvalles. Every man pledged to fight Roland and his followers to the death. ”

“ Commanding Ganelon to be seized and given to the scullions of his house to be kept for punishment until his return, Carle ordered his men to arm and return to Roncesvalles, that they might, if possible, save the lives of the noble peers. All the army wept aloud as they thought of the doom of Roland. High were the mountains, deep the valleys, swift the rushing streams. The French rode on, answering the sound of the olifant; the emperor rode, filled with grief and rage; the barons spurred their horses, but in vain. ”

“ Oh, for a blast of that dread horn,
On Fontarabian echoes borne,
That to King Charles did come,
When Rowland brave, and Olivier,
And every paladin and peer,
On Roncesvalles died! ”

“ North Ronaldshay is the most northerly of the Orkney group; South Ronaldshay (2) lies 61⁄4 m. NE. of Duncansby Head; both have a fertile soil, and the coast fisheries are valuable.
Roncesvalles, a valley of the Pyrenees, 23 m. NE. of Pampeluna, where in 775 the rear of the army of Charlemagne was cut in pieces by the Basques, and Roland (q. v.) with the other Paladins was slain.
Ronda (19) , one of the old Moorish towns of Spain, built amid grand scenery on both sides of a great ravine (bridged in two places) , down which rushes the Guadiaro, 43 m. W. of Malaga; is a favourite summer resort. ”

“ Mary Roncevall. The House of Roncesvalles appears to have owed most of its property in England and in Ireland to the liberality of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, the eldest son of the great William Marshall—Rector regis et regni—the Protector of the King and his kingdom after the death of John. The elder Marshall stands out in conspicuous fashion as the most steadfast of all the advisers of the king during the dark period coinciding with the reigns of Richard I and John. ”

“ Such a taunt has never been weighed in the balance against the glories of Thermopylæ. I frequently meet in society one of the Paladins of that fatal Roncesvalles. In private life he has few peculiarities, except a tendency to engage in each and every game of chance, and a perfect monomania for waltzing. Yet I regard him with an immense respect and reverence, that the object of the feeling would be the last to understand. I think of the awful peril out of which the delicate, feminine face has come without a scar ”

“ The first poem consists of a series of romantic adventures in strange countries, whither Orlando, Uliviero, Rinaldo and Astolfo have been driven by the craft of Gano, and where they fight giants, liberate ladies, and fall in love with Pagan damsels, after the jovial fashion of knights errant. The second assumes a more heroic tone, and tells in truly thrilling verse the tale of Roncesvalles. ”

“ They overtook the flying enemy in the valley of Tenebrus, close by the swift torrent of the Ebro, and there with the swollen river in front and the fierce Franks on the flanks and rear the pagans were slowly cut to pieces. Only Marsilius and a little band, who had gone another way, escaped. Every Saracen in Tenebrus had perished before the Franks gave up their bloody work. Back to Roncesvalles went King Charles, where he buried the dead, all excepting Roland and Oliver, whose bodies he embalmed and carried in his richest chariots on his return journey. ”

“ Marsilius is here in arms, and all the world has come with him."
The Paladins pressed round Orlando, and entreated him to sound his horn, in token that he needed help. His only answer was, to mount his horse, and ride up the mountain with Sansonetto.
As soon, however, as he cast forth his eyes and beheld what was round about him, he turned in sorrow, and looked down into Roncesvalles, and said, "O valley, miserable indeed! the blood that is shed in thee this day will colour thy name for ever." ”

“ The Convent of St. Mary Roncesvalles in Navarre. From very early Christian times a religious house, no doubt very small in its beginnings, was situated near the top of the pass through which runs the ancient road over the Pyrenees leading from Pamplona in Navarre, through the mountains by St. Jean Pied-de-Port, to Bayonne and Bordeaux. The religious community at this place received its most important support from Charlemagne himself, when he established a religious house intended to be a memorial of Roland and his comrades in arms. ”

“ Italy had become one great nation. After a brief resistance from the foreign papal troops, stopped by order of the pope, the Italian troops under Cadorna made a breach, and entered Rome amid enthusiastic acclamation of the people, September 20, 1870.
Rompu. In heraldry, a term applied to [498] a chevron when the upper part is taken off, and remains above it in the field.
Roncesvalles (Fr. Roncevaux) . A small Spanish village, province of Navarre, in a narrow valley inclosed by lofty mountains, through which one of the principal roads leads from France across the Pyrenees into Spain. ”

“ The sudden outbreak of the war in Spain forced him to bid farewell to his betrothed, but he promised to return as soon as possible to celebrate their wedding. During the campaign, many stories of his courage came to Hildegarde's ears, and finally, after a long silence, she heard that Roland had perished at Roncesvalles.
Broken-hearted, the fair young mourner spent her days in tears, and at last prevailed upon her father to allow her to enter the convent on the island of Nonnenworth, in the middle of the river, and within view of the gigantic crag where the castle ruins can still be seen. ”

“ Like Rolf, he was one of the men who mark as well as make a great change in the world's affairs, and in whose time civilization takes a long step forward. When we know that it took him between thirty and forty years to completely conquer the Saxons, who lived in the northern part of his country, and we read the story of the great battle of Roncesvalles in which the Basque people won ”

“ A few months afterwards a great army, under the Counts Eblus and Asenarius, dependents of the King of Aquitaine, traversed the sierra and invaded Spain. The city of Pampeluna was taken, and, after some desultory operations yielding little profit or glory, the Franks retired in imaginary security. The defile of Roncesvalles once more became the scene of a fearful disaster; the invaders, surrounded by a host of mountaineers and Arabs, were cut to pieces, and the prisoners divided among the allies, the two counts being among those who survived the disgrace of incompetency and defeat. ”

“ Soon of that gallant band not one is left alive; night covers all, the eagles devour the flesh, and the bones whiten in this valley to all eternity!”
A Spanish Version
So runs the “Song of Altobiscar.” But Spain too claims part of the honour of the day of Roncesvalles. [Pg 121] True, Roland was in reality slain by Basques, not by Spaniards; but Spain, eager to share the honour, has glorified a national hero, Bernardo del Carpio, who, in the Spanish legend, defeats Roland in single combat and wins the day. ”

“ The Duke of Dalmatia, on the 25th of July, assaulted the passes in the neighbourhood of Roncesvalles,59 and the Count d'Erlon that of Aretesque, four miles in front of Maya. The result of this day's combat obliged Generals Cole,301 Byng, and the Spanish General Morillo, to fall back from Roncesvalles; owing to which retrograde, the British army were taken in reverse. The fifth division, at daybreak, had stormed the breaches of St. Sebastian without success; two thousand men had fallen, or were made prisoners, at the various points of contest ”

“ A score of pagans is a poor price for one of us. I have promised to render good account of you. I have no fear. The battlefield will tell, if we cannot." Then he gave the word, "Go forward!" and with his golden spurs pricked Veillantif. So, foremost, he led the rear-guard down the mountain-side, down through the pass of Siza into the Valley of Death called Roncesvalles. Close following came Oliver, Archbishop Turpin, and the valiant Twelve; the guard pressing forward with the shout "Montjoy!" and bearing the snow-white banner of their king aloft. ”

“ They armed themselves with the greatest impatience. There was nothing but lacing of helmets and mounting of horses, while good Archbishop Turpin went from rank to rank exhorting and encouraging the warriors of Christ. Orlando and his captains withdrew for a moment to consultation. He fairly groaned for sorrow, and at first had not a word to say, so wretched he felt at having brought his people to die in Roncesvalles. Then he said: "If it had entered into my heart to conceive the king of Spain to be such a villain never would you have seen this day. ”

“ Orens at Auch, which is still carefully preserved. {109} One loves whatever recalls Orlando, the type of Christian chivalry. Many a tradition of him lingers in this country. Roncesvalles claims to possess his armor, and Blaye his terrible sword and his tomb. In the country of the Escualdunae is the Pas de Roland, a gigantic footprint on a large rock. At the other extremity of the Pyrenees, in Roussillon, the long table of a Celtic dolmen is called by the people Le Palet de Roland ”

“ Most of the epic poems of the middle ages in which Roland's death is recorded, especially the different old French Chansons de Roland ou de Roncevaux, an Icelandic poem on the subject, and Stricker's middle-high German lay of Roland, all of them written between A.D. 1100 and 1230—agree in this, that after Roland's fall at Roncesvalles, and the complete rout of the heathen by Charlemagne, the latter returns home and is met—some say at Aix-la-Chapelle, others at Blavie, others at Paris—by Alda or Alite, Olivier's sister, who inquires of him where Roland, her betrothed, is. ”

“ I shall not tell you who will watch you, or who in turn will watch him; but it will save possible trouble if you should understand that from the moment at which you leave, until the Count Rossano is in our hands, you will be under my observation and control as definitely as you are at this moment.”
“All this,” replied Roncivalli, “is a waste of words. I have undertaken this piece of work for my own purpose, and for my own purpose I shall carry it through. When the work is done I shall go my own way, as I have always told you. ”