Chronicles: The Writing of History in Medieval England

by Christopher Given-Wilson

The priorities of medieval chroniclers and historians were not those of the modern historian, nor was the way that they gathered, arranged and presented evidence. Yet if we understand how they approached their task, and their assumption of God's immanence in the world, much that they wrote becomes clear. Many of them were men of high intelligence whose interpretation of events sheds clear light on what happened. Christopher Given-Wilson is one of the leading authorities on medieval English historical writing. He examines how medieval writers such as Ranulf Higden and Adam Usk treated chronology and geography, politics and warfare, heroes and villains. He looks at the ways in which chronicles were used during the middle ages, and at how the writing of history changed between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, British Literature

292 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Chris Given-Wilson is emeritus professor of medieval history, University of St. Andrews.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explores why and how medieval chroniclers chronicled. I thought it was really interesting, though sometimes confusing to keep track of which Richard, John, Henry or Edward was being discussed & roughly when they were in power.

If you've read Cassandra Clark's Hildegard series, one of the chronicles discussed is Thomas Burton's chronicle of Meaux from roughly the same time period.