January
10
/ 2017
Roland (Hruodland in Frankish) also called "Roland the Valiant," was born in 736 AD and died in 778 at Roncevaux. He was a Frankish knight, Earl of March of Brittany, responsible for defending the frontier of the Frankish kingdom against the Bretons, and - according to legend - nephew of Charlemagne, who became the chief paladin of the emperor and one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Vita Karoli Magni According to the Vita Karoli Magni, a work written between 829 and 836 by Eginhard a monk and chronicler, the hordes of Saracens (it is also believed they were rebellious Basques) massacred Roland and his army during the battle of Roncevaux Pass
