Charlemagne's troops, returning from the siege of Zaragoza, suffered an attack by Basque tribes aided by Muslims at the Roncesvalles pass in the Pyrenees. The narrowness of the pass and the weight of the weapons of the Carolingian army favored the success of the ambush on the rear of the Franks.
In this tragic episode Roldan died, but the legend made him go down in the annals of literature (Chanson de Roldan, Rolandstat, Orlando Furioso, etc.) as the paladin, who with his magic sword "Durendal", a gift from his lord Charlemagne , and with the horn "Oliphant" he faced 100,000 Saracens. With the blow of his sword he opened a passage between the Pyrenean mountains that is still called "Bréche de Roland" today.