In the following sketch, the author has confined himself to one branch of the History of the Middle Ages. He attempts nothing more than a glance at the social condition of Europe, from the fifth to the twelfth century; political affairs, military transactions, the rise and fall of dynasties, the relation of European states to each other, and the lives and deeds of the heroes of those days, do not come within the range of his plan. He has marked out the first six centuries of the middle ages, for separate consideration, because in the twelfth century a new epoch commenced.
Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:
* They are officially published under that name * They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author * They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.