The ''Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV. in England and the Finall Recouerye of His Kingdomes from Henry VI. A.D. M.CCCC.LXXI'' is a

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

from the period of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. As the title implies, the main focus of the work is

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

's arrival in England in 1471 to reclaim his crown. On 2 October 1470, King Edward had fled to

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

in the face of a rebellion by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Warwick set upas a puppet king Henry VI, whom he had himself previously helped depose. On the continent Edward received support from Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and on 14 March 1471 he landed at Ravenspurn in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and started making his way south. On 14 April Edward defeated Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. Warwick was killed and Edward's reign was secured.Ross (1997), pp. 167–8. The author of the ''Arrival'' is unknown, but he identifies himself as a servant of Edward IV. For this reason the chronicle is written from a perspective sympathetic to King Edward, but this also allows the author a unique perspective. He claims that he experienced some of the events described first hand, and learned the rest from people closely involved. The work was also written shortly after the events, and for these reasons it is considered the most authoritative source on the period, more so than e.g. the ''

Croyland Chronicle Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...

'' or the works of

Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: ''Polidoro Virgili''; commonly Latinised as ''Polydorus Vergilius''; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent ...

. The chronicle exists in two versions; in addition to the full, official one there is also an abridged version in French. This version was sent to the citizens of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, the city where Edward had resided in exile, in appreciation of their hospitality.

References

Further reading