Most of the papers contained in this thirteenth volume of The Medieval Chronicle were originally read at the 8th International Conference on the Medieval Chronicle (Lisbon, 2017), including the keynote by Inés Fernández-Ordóñez.
Geographically, this volume reaches from Livonia to the Iberian Peninsula, from Venice to France, from England to Rus, and from Sweden to Syria. Its chronology ranges from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, with an emphasis on the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Most papers are chronologically focused on a particular moment, but a number take a wider view, surveying several centuries of tradition, one even reaching into the eighteenth century, and others reaching back to Antiquity. Volume II of The Medieval Chronicle commenced with the question ‘What is a Chronicle?’, and this question has continued to be raised and receive a range of answers throughout the series. It is given a new treatment here through the application of modern genre theory (Markevičiūtė). The approach to chronicles as genre of writing also bears fruit when they are studied in their relation to other genres, such as liturgical texts (Legkikh). Textual approaches continue in the interrogation of chronicles’ rhetoric. Chroniclers could make creative, programmatic use of such textual elements as numbers (Courroux) and time (Nordquist). The chronicler’s rhetoric can be situated within the historical context of their work; here, we have studies of individual chronicles’ rhetoric of empire (Fernández-Ordóñez) and of ecclesiastical affairs (Bratu). Further, we have studies of the use of chronicles for political commenary (Marsh) and of chroniclers’ appropriation of their sources for such purposes (Titterton). From a focus on authorship and authors’ aims (Guyot-Bachy; Leite), we also move to the act of attribution of authorship itself (Marin). Finally, when studying medieval chronicles, the starting point is provided by the manuscript and the text as presented there, including its linguistic features (Pratelli), yet we are reminded that not only vernacular texts could be produced with dissemination through oral performance in mind (Sweetenham). Continuing a precedent established in our recent volumes, this volume further includes two review articles.
Papers included in these volumes each address one or more of the following five major themes of interest: 1. The chronicle: history or literature? 2. The function of the chronicle; 3. The form of the chronicle; 4. The chronicle and the reconstruction of the past; 5. Text and image in the chronicle. Beside papers on these subjects, also editions of short chronicle texts may be submitted for publication. All papers included in The Medieval Chronicle are peer reviewed by two members of an editorial committee.
While the series aims to provide a interdisciplinary forum, individual papers may be written from a more disciplinary position; our aim, however, is to ensure all papers included will be both of interest and accessible to scholars from any disciplinary background who share a common interest in the medieval chronicle, or more generally medieval historiography. Reflecting the international nature of the study of medieval chronicles, papers are included in English, French and German. Abstracts in English precede the individual papers.
Erik Kooper and Sjoerd Levelt