If there was a time when the Basques were unified as one political entity, it was under the Kingdom of Nafarroa, which started out as the Kingdom of Pamplona. The first king of Pamplona, Eneko Arista, founded the kingdom sometime around 824. His family was closely intertwined with the neighboring Banu Qasi family – indeed, […]
I’ve often heard that the Basques have never been conquered. However, during the Muslim invasion of what would eventually become Spain, they reached the borders of the Basque region. This led to significant military, political, and even familial interactions between the Muslims and the Basques. In fact, one of the most prominent families of the […]
The Song of Roland, one of the oldest major works in French, describes how Charlemagne’s nephew, Roland, takes the rear guard of Charlemagne’s army back through the pass of Roncevaux, where they are ambushed and slaughtered by the Muslims. In reality, it was the Basques that attacked Roland.
