Description
Book SynopsisThis volume contains twelve essays that describe the writing of history in medieval Western Europe. Each chapter examines a type of subject matter about which medieval historians wrote, and discusses both the texts and the modern approaches to these texts. The authors include both historians and literary scholars. There are four chapters on early medieval historiography (universal history, national/ethnic history, institutional history, and biography/hagiography) and eight on later medieval historiography (the same four, plus dynastic, urban, contemporary, and legendary history). This comprehensive one-volume survey, in English, of medieval historiography can serve both as an introduction for students and the interested layperson, and as a handbook for the scholar. Originally published in hardcover.
Trade Review"...a wonderfully thought-provoking text which offers, I believe, the most comprehensive examination of medieval historiography to date ... a tremendous contribution to contemporary scholarship. It is rich, accessible, and informative, illuminating our understanding of how the past was understood and written in medieval contexts. It would make a valuable acquisition for any library." – Alicia Marchant, in: The Limina, 2005 "…an extremely valuable resource for anyone seeking to find their bearings in a vast and complex field." – Graeme Dunphy, in: MLR, 2005
Table of Contentschapters include: Universal History 300-1000: Origins and Western Developments (Michael I. Allen), Ethnic and National History ca. 500-1000 (Joaquín Martínez Pizarro), Local and Institutional History (300-1000) (Michel Sot), Christian Biography: Foundation To Maturity (Thomas J. Heffernan), World Historiography in the Late Middle Ages (Rolf Sprandel), High and Late Medieval National Historiography (Norbert Kersken ), Dynastic History (Leah Shopkow), Contemporary and Eyewitness History (Peter Ainsworth), Later Medieval Institutional History (Bert Roest), Medieval Urban Historiography in Western Europe (1100-1500) (Augusto Vasina), Biography 1000-1350 (Michael Goodich), Legendary History: Historia and Fabula (Peter Ainsworth)
