Precedents of the Battle

Abstract

This chapter examines the creation of the Emirate of Cordoba under Abd\n al-Rahman I and King Charles’ call for the Paderborn Diet in 777. The\n purpose of the 778 campaign launched by the Frankish king was not to\n fire up a crusade against Islam but to create a march in the Pyrenees, a\n vassal domain of the Frankish Kingdom bounded by the 600-kilometer\n (373-mile) old Roman road connecting Pamplona and Girona. Indeed,\n sources indicate that King Charles negotiated terms with the Muslim\n rulers of the Ebro valley and there was no offer on the part of the Muslim\n emissaries to embrace the Christian faith. However, the religious aspect\n provided a suitable and effective casus belli and the literary tradition\n presented this military adventure as the first European crusade.