Roncesvalles meaning

rŏnsə-vălz, rônthĕs-välyĕs
A mountain pass, 1,057 m (3,468 ft) high, through the western Pyrenees in northern Spain. According to tradition, the Frankish hero Roland died there fighting the Basques during Charlemagne's retreat from a failed campaign against the Moors (778).
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Roncesvalles Sentence Examples

  • Thence his line stretched along the Pyrenees by the passes of Vera, Echallar, Maya and Roncesvalles, to Altobiscar; his immediate object now being to reduce the fortresses of San Sebastian and Pampeluna.

  • It was useless to attempt to avenge this disaster, which occurred on the 15th of August 778, for the enemy disappeared as quickly as he came; the incident has passed from the domain of history into that of legend and romance, being associated by tradition with the pass of Roncesvalles.

  • He had not visited Spain since the disaster of Roncesvalles, but he continued to take a lively interest in the affairs of that country.

  • The account in the Chanson de Roland of the trial of Ganelon after the battle of Roncesvalles must have been adopted almost intact from earlier poets, and provides a striking example of the value of the chansons de geste to the historian of manners and customs.

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