According to the Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir, the Diet of Paderborn had receiv ed the representatives of the Muslim

rulers of Zaragoza, Girona, Barcelona, and Huesca. Their masters had been cornered in the Iberian peninsula by Abd ar-Rahma n I, the Umayyad emir of Cordova. These "Saracen" (Moorish and Muladi) rulers of fered their homage to the great king of the Franks in return for military suppor t. Seeing an opportunity to extend Christendom and his own power and believing t he Saxons to be a fully conquered nation, Charlemagne agreed to go to Spain. In 778, he led the Neustrian army across the Western Pyrenees, while the Austras ians, Lombards, and Burgundians passed over the Eastern Pyrenees. The armies met at Saragossa and Charlemagne received the homage of the Muslim rulers, Sulayman al-Arabi and Kasmin ibn Yusuf, but the city did not fall for him. Indeed, Charl emagne was facing the toughest battle of his career where the Muslims had the up per hand and forced him to retreat. He decided to go home, since he could not tr ust the Basques, whom he had subdued by conquering Pamplona. He turned to leave Iberia, but as he was passing through the Pass of Roncesvalles one of the most f amous events of his long reign occurred. The Basques fell on his rearguard and b aggage train, utterly destroying it. The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, less a battle than a mere skirmish, left many famous dead: among which were the seneschal Egg ihard, the count of the palace Anselm, and the warden of the Breton March, Rolan d, inspiring the subsequent creation of the Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland ).