Cross of Angels

Synoposis

The covenant has agreed to strike back against the basques for Baron Karl as part of the agreement that netted them Claudio. The region they are traveling in what is becoming known as Marca Hispanica (the Spanish March). This is a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania as a defensive barrier between the Franks and the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus (from the Omayyad Emirate of Cordova).  Word has come down that a group of Basques raided a village named Cermaya at the base of the Pyrenees. Rumor has it there were some strange goings-on with ghostly soldiers and the like.  The Basques were aided by ghostly warriors who fought silently and killed in a single blow.  The Baron also has in his company a pilgrim named Alfonso the Chaste.  Alfonso is a smith and has had a vision from God to go to the King's court and help forge something.

[I'll have to find the rest of my written notes to finish a story synopsis since I'm working with what was recovered from a bad hard drive - KT]

As part of the deal to get the services of Claudio, promises were made to Baron Karl. These include a strike against the Basque. As the story begins a messenger from the Baron arrives at the covenant. The time has come to for the Baron to call in this favor.

A bit of Basque History

Roman rule

The north-west of Spain, including the Basque regions, was first reached by the Romans under Pompey in the 1st century BC, but not consolidated until the time of the Emperor Augustus. The looseness of Roman rule well suited the Basques, who retained their traditional laws and leadership. This poor region was little developed by the Romans and there is not much evidence of Romanization; this certainly contributed to the survival of the separate Basque language.

A large Roman presence was situated in the garrison of Pompaelo (now Pamplona), a city founded by Pompey on the south side of the Pyrenees. The area to the north was conquered after a fierce campaign in which the Romans fought against the Cantabrians (see Cantabrian Wars). There are archaeological remains from this period of garrisons situated to protect the commercial routes all along the Ebro river and along a Roman causeway between Asturica and Burdigala.

The Basques were used by the Romans to guard their empire. For example, a unit of Vardulli was stationed on Hadrian's Wall in the north of Britain for many years, and at some time earned the title fida (faithful) for some now forgotten service to the emperor. Even today, nationalist Basques look back on the Roman Empire as an ideal time, claiming that even though there was no Basque independence, the Basques still had almost total internal control. As well as their lack of exposure to Roman garrisons, the survival of Basque culture was aided by the fact that the Basque Country was a poor region. It had no unused cropland that could be used to settle Roman colonists and it had few commodities that would interest the Romans. Only a small number of Roman traders would have come there. This isolation is no doubt what allowed Basque to survive and not be overwhelmed by Latin as other languages were.

Middle Ages

The history of the Basque Country darkens, however, with the arrival of the Germanic peoples and the collapse of the Roman Empire. Rather than being an isolated area in the centre of a large empire, the Basques were placed at the border between the warring Visigothic and Frankish kingdoms. The Basque Country became a strategically important territory desired by both sides.

At the same time, the Basques lost their lifestyle, which was dependent on trade with the Roman Empire. These two changes transformed the Basques from being one of the most docile people in Europe into a group of dedicated warriors bent on survival. An important Basque king of approximately this time was Iñigo Arista (Iñigo (Eneko) the Oak) (c.781–852) first King of Pamplona. There are scattered reports from this period of presumed Basque brigands (in Latin, bagaudae) in Aquitaine and Spain stealing those things which they used to be able to trade for. Most of the confrontations with the Basques were, however, instigated by outsiders. Both the Franks and Visigoths sent armies through the Basque Country repeatedly.

The rugged Basque territory is ideal for banditry and it is not surprising that the Basques could still survive despite oppressive neighbours. Just as in every time of persecution in their history, the Basques simply moved to the hills and held out there until the threat had gone.

The Basques also proved during this period that despite the lack of central authority, they could protect their homeland when the need arose. After Charlemagne's Franks invaded northern Spain, they returned home and en route pillaged the Basque Country. The Basques, however, intercepted the Frankish army while it made its way through a mountain pass. Despite poor weaponry and fewer fighters the Basques destroyed much of the Frankish force. The Battle of the Roncesvalles Pass was the only major defeat Charlemagne suffered in his long career. These events were immortalized in the French-language Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), an important piece of medieval verse.

The Basques did not similarly mobilise against the Islamic invaders who, just a few years earlier, had seized most of the Iberian peninsula. Although Christians, Basques did not resist the Muslim advance; it was stopped only by Frankish troops in Poitiers. Later, the Christian kingdom of Pamplona (later the Kingdom of Navarre) and the short-lived Muslim kingdom of the Banu-Qasi Muladis (indigenous converts), with its capital in Tudela, had an alliance with cross-marriages. However. the Basques did take part in the Reconquista. The frontier land of Alava was secured and the neighbouring kingdoms called Basques to colonize the new territories, mainly in La Rioja and parts of Castile. At one point, the kingdom of Navarre extended southwards beyond the Ebro river. In a later age, Basque mariners were to take part in the sea battles of the Castilian conquest of Andalusia.