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The Song of Roland, an 11th-century Old French epic poem, may have served as the inspiration for the name "California" The poem refers to the defeat suffered August 15, 778, in the retreat of Charlemagne's army at the hands of the Muslim army in Battle of Roncevaux Pass in the Pyrenees.
Orlando e i Paladini di Francia / Orlando and the Knights of France (aka Roland the Mighty) is a 1956 film about the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, where Roland, a knight in the service of Charlemagne was killed while defending the rear-guard of the Frankish army as it retreated across the Pyrenees.
Roncesvalles is famous in history and legend for the defeat of Charlemagne and the death of Roland in 778, during the battle of Roncevaux Pass, when Charlemagne's rear guard was destroyed by Basque tribes.