chronicler

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 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.Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, ''Memory and Gender in Medieval Europe: 900–1200'' (Toronto; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, 1999), pp. 19–20. Some used written material, such as charters, letters, and earlier chronicles. Still others are tales of unknown origin that have mythical status. Copyists also changed chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original chronicler. Determining the reliability of particular chronicles is important to historians.

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 assembles a list of events up to the time of their 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.

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.

Citation of entries

Entries in chronicles are often cited using the abbreviation ''s.a.'', meaning ''sub anno'' (under the year), according to the year under which they are listed. For example, "''ASC'' MS A, s.a. 855" means the entry for the year 855 in manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. The same event may be recorded under a different year in another manuscript of the chronicle, and may be cited for example as "''ASC'' MS D, s.a. 857".

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. Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints.

Cronista

A cronista is a term for a historical chronicler, a role that held historical significance in the European Middle Ages. Until the European Enlightenment, the occupation was largely equivalent to that of a historian, describing events chronologically that were of note in a given country or region. As such, it was often an official governmental position rather than an independent practice. The appointment of the official chronicler often favored individuals who had distinguished themselves by their efforts to study, investigate and disseminate population-related issues. The position was granted on a local level based on the mutual agreements of a city council in plenary meetings. Often, the occupation was honorary, unpaid, and stationed for life. In modern usage, the term usually refers to a type of journalist who writes chronicles as a form of journalism or non-professional historical documentation.

Cronista in the Middle Ages

Before the development of modern journalism and the systematization of chronicles as a journalistic genre, cronista were tasked with narrating chronological events considered worthy of remembrance that were recorded year by year. Unlike writers who created epic poems regarding living figures, cronista recorded historical events in the lives of individuals in an ostensibly truthful and reality-oriented way.
Even from the time of early Christian historiography, cronistas were clearly expected to place human history in the context of a linear progression, starting with the creation of man until the second coming of Christ, as prophesied in biblical texts.

Alphabetical list of notable chronicles

*''History of Alam Aray Abbasi'' – Safavid dynasty
*'' Alamgirnama'' – Mughal Empire
*''Altan Tobchi'' - Mongol Empire
*''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' – England
* '' Annales Bertiniani'' – West Francia
*''Annales Cambriae'' – Wales
*'' Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae'' – Poland
*''Annals of Inisfallen'' – Ireland
*'' Annals of Lough Cé'' – Ireland
*''Annals of the Four Masters'' – Ireland
*'' Annals of Spring and Autumn'' – China
*''Annals of Thutmose III'' – Ancient Egypt
*'' The Annals of the Choson Dynasty'' – Korea
*''Babylonian Chronicles'' – Mesopotamia
*''Anonymous Bulgarian Chronicle'' – Bulgaria
*'' Bodhi Vamsa'' – Sri Lanka
*''Books of Chronicles'' attributed to Ezra – Israel
*''Buranji'' – Ahoms, Assam, India
*''Cāmadevivaṃsa'' – Northern Thailand
*'' Culavamsa'' – Sri Lanka
*(''Chronica Polonorum''): see ''Gesta principum Polonorum''
*''Cheitharol Kumbaba'' – Manipur, India
* '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum''
*''Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae'' – Poland
* ''Chronicon'' of Eusebius
*''Chronicon Scotorum'' – Ireland
* ''Chronicon'' of Thietmar of Merseburg
*'' Chronicle (Crònica) by Ramon Muntaner'' – 13th/14th-century Crown of Aragon. Third and longest of the Grand Catalan Chronicles.
*'' Chronicle of Finland'' (''Chronicon Finlandiae'') by Johannes Messenius – Finland
*'' Dioclean Priest's Chronicle'' – Europe
*'' Chronicle of the Slavs'' – Europe
*''Chronicle of Greater Poland'' – Poland
*'' Chronica Hungarorum'' – History of Hungary
*'' Chronicle of Jean de Venette'' – France
*'' Chronicle of the Bishops of England'' (''De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum'') by William of Malmesbury
*'' Chronicle of the Kings of England'' (''De Gestis Regum Anglorum'') by William of Malmesbury
*'' Chronographia'' – 11th century History of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) by Michael Psellos
*''Comentarios Reales de los Incas''
*'' Conversion of Kartli'' – Georgia
* Cronaca- Chronicle of Cyprus from the 4th up to the 15th century by Cypriot chronicler Leontios Machairas
*''Cronaca fiorentina'' – Chronicle of Florence up to the end of the 14th Century by Baldassarre Bonaiuti

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases