Volume IV of the first complete English translation of the chronicles of
Fernão Lopes chronicles the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385), which secured
the throne for João I, his marriage to Philippa of Lancaster, and his
reign up to 1411.
Until now, the chronicles of Fernão Lopes (c.1380-c.1460) have only been
available in critical editions or in partial translations. Comparable to
the works of Froissart in France or López de Ayala in Spain, the
chronicles provide a wealth of detail on late fourteenth-century
politics, diplomacy, warfare and economic matters, courtly society,
queenship and noble women, as well as more mundane concerns such as
food, health and the purchasing power of a fluctuating currency. Lopes
had a keen eye for detail and a perspective especially attuned to the
common people, and his chronicles provide an invaluable source for the
history of Western Europe in the later Middle Ages.