Battle of Pancorbo (816)

The battle resulted in a Córdoban victory and was instrumental in the Basque revolt and the establishment of Íñigo Arista of Pamplona as a major player in the contemporary Iberian political scene.

They were surprised by Velasco at La Puebla de Arganzón and the attack resulted in a complete rout of the Umayyad forces under Muawiya ibn al-Hàkam who was obliged to return to Córdoba (Qurtuba) after most of his best commanders and a large part of his army were wiped out.

Velasco, the lord of Pamplona, pled for assistance from the Kingdom of Asturias and put together an army to face the Moors.

[4] The forces met near Pancorbo, where the battle lasted for thirteen days during which the Basques planned their defence in rough fords of rivers and ravines, blocking access with logs, trenches and pits dug with their own weapons, that the Córdobans could not get through.

Velasco was killed, along with three other leaders of the Basque-Asturians, Garcia ibn Lubb (='son of Lupus'), who was Alfonso's maternal uncle, Sancho, "the best knight of Pamplona", and the pagan warrior Ṣaltān.