Chronica Albeldense, probably composed in Rioja and possibly by an eye-witness, records that Ordoño entered the city of Albelda after a bloody siege, adding that Musa was spreading lies from his encampment atop Monte Laturce before his army was annihilated. He himself was pierced by an arrow and would have been captured had not a friend of his — "a Christian soldier in another time," the Chronica says — offered his own horse to save Musa's life. The rout of Monte Laturce is usually dated to 859 or 860. The only source which may directly speak of Monte Laturce under the year 859 is Ibn al-Athir, who wrote that in 245 AH (which began 7 April 859) the Muslim governor of Tarazona (who is known to have been Musa at the time) invaded the Kingdom of Navarre and captured a Christian castle, taking its inhabitants prisoner. The next day he was defeated in battle and many Muslims lost their lives. The Chronicle of Alfonso III records that, after the Battle of Albelda in 851, and partly by means of war, partly by treachery, Musa captured two Frankish leaders, Sancho and Emenon, whom he threw into a dungeon. The date of Sancho and Emenon's capture is not given. The "gifts" from Charles the Bald which Ordoño's soldiers found in the camp of Musa at Monte Laturce may have been the ransom paid for Sancho and Emenon, in which case their capture occurred prior to 859/60. Notes References Cañada Juste, Alberto. 1980. "Los Banu Qasi (714–924)", Príncipe de Viana, 41: 5-96. Pérez de Urbel, Justo. 1954. "Lo viejo y lo nuevo sobre el origen del Reino de Pamplona". Al-Andalus, 19:1–42, especially 20–6. Monte Laturce 9th century in Al-Andalus Monte Laturce Monte Laturce Upper March Monte Laturce