Chronicle

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For other uses, see Chronicle (disambiguation).
"Chronica" and "Chronicler" redirect here. For the Albigensian Crusade history, see Chronica (Guillaume de Puylaurens). For the anonymous ancient Hebrew compiler, see The Chronicler.

A chronicle (Latin: chronica, from Greek χρονικά chroniká, from χρόνος, chrónos – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler. A chronicle which traces world history is a universal chronicle. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, in which an author chooses events to interpret and analyze and excludes those the author does not consider important or relevant.

The information sources for chronicles vary. Some are written from the chronicler's direct knowledge, others from witnesses or participants in events, still others are accounts passed down from generation to generation by oral tradition.[1] Some used written material, such as charters, letters, and earlier chronicles.[1] Still others are tales of unknown origin that have mythical status.[1] Copyists also changed chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original chronicler.[1] Determining the reliability of particular chronicles is important to historians.[1]

Many newspapers and other periodical literature have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories.

Subgroups[]

Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, over dead ones.

The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. The earliest medieval chronicle to combine both retrospective (dead) and contemporary (live) entries, is the Chronicle of Ireland, which spans the years 431 to 911.[2]

Chronicles are the predecessors of modern "time lines" rather than analytical histories. They represent accounts, in prose or verse, of local or distant events over a considerable period of time, both the lifetime of the individual chronicler and often those of several subsequent continuators. If the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, and made little attempt to separate fact from legend. The point of view of most chroniclers is highly localised, to the extent that many anonymous chroniclers can be sited in individual abbeys.

It is impossible to say how many chronicles exist, as the many ambiguities in the definition of the genre make it impossible to draw clear distinctions of what should or should not be included. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists some 2,500 items written between 300 and 1500 AD.

English chronicles[]

The most important English chronicles are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, started under the patronage of King Alfred in the 9th century and continued until the 12th century, and the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577–87) by Raphael Holinshed and other writers; the latter documents were important sources of materials for Elizabethan drama.[3] Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints.

Alphabetical list of notable chronicles[]

Chronicles of Flanders. Manuscript manufactured in Flanders, 2nd half of the 15th century. Manuscript preserved in the University Library of Ghent.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, Memory and Gender in Medieval Europe: 900–1200 (Toronto; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, 1999), pp. 19–20.
  2. ^ Roy Flechner, '"The Chronicle of Ireland: Then and Now" Early Medieval Europe v.21:4(2013) 422-54 Article doi:10.1111/emed.12025
  3. ^ 'A Glossary of Literary Terms' – M.H. Abrams
  4. ^ "Kroniek van Vlaanderen, van de aanvang tot 1467". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  5. ^ "Machairas, Leontios". doi:10.1163/9789004184640_emc_sim_01737. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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