Book Series Brepols Essays in European Culture, vol. 5

Chronicon. Medieval Narrative Sources

A chronological guide with introductory essays

Janos M. Bak, Ivan Jurković (eds)

  • Pages: 493 p.
  • Size:140 x 216 mm
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2013

  • € 100,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-54833-3
  • Paperback
  • Available


This practical guide aims to facilitate the discovery of narrative sources (chronicles, annals, saints’ lives) for a given area and time period.

Review(s)

"Il s'agit [...] d'un instrument de référence pratique et aisément accessible, que tout chercheur peut avoir dans sa bibliothèque. Plusieurs index en facilitent la consultation."

(R. Godding, in: Analecta Bollandiana, 132 (2014), p. 218)

"Ce répertoire est une véritable mine d’informations et qu’il permet de s’orienter rapidement et de manière fiable dans le vaste domaine des sources narratives médiévales. Chaque historien devrait alors prendre le réflexe de le consulter quand il travaille sur l’un des textes ici répertoriés. De telles vérifications sont largement simplifiées par des index d’auteurs, de titres d’oeuvres anonymes, de lieux et de personnes mentionnées dans les titres. [...] Chronicon est par là bien plus qu'un simple guide; il permet aussi de faire le tour des questions actuelles sur l'historiographie médiévale. Espérons qu'il s'imposera vite comme un outil incontournable pour tous les médiévistes."

(Klaus Krönert, in: Francia-Recensio, 2014/4, http://www.perspectivia.net/content/publikationen/francia/francia-recensio/2014-4/MA/bak_kroenert)

"(...) it is a most useful project and will be a great help to scholars working on the European middle ages. The editors deserve both gratitude and congratulations for the work they have put into this and the straightforward, effective way in which the mass of information is presented."

(Chris Given-Wilson, in: The Medieval Review, 15.04.03)

"Mit Gewinn heranziehen wird man das 'Chronicon' aber zweifellos dann, wenn man sich rasch einen Überblick über die narrativen Quellen eines Kulturraumes und einer Epoche verschaffen will." (Gerhard Wolf, in: Das Mittelalter 20, 2 [2015], p. 424-426)

"These two volumes will prove fundamental resources for the study of the chronicles of late antiquity and the medieval period for some time to come (...) Overall, these are important volumes which serve different purposes. Chronicon will be more useful for reference and teaching about all kinds of medieval narratives, while Mosaics of Time will hopefully encourage new ways of thinking about chronicles. As noted above, the two books could profitably be read consecutively and should be purchased by any serious academic library"

(J. Wood, in Al-Masāq. Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean 27, 3 [2015], p. 309-311, reviewing both this volume and Mosaics of Time [SEM 33], Turnhout, 2013)

“(…) the work is well done and very useful. The design, the layout and binding of the book are very appealing and make working with it easy and pleasant.” (Grischa Vercamer, in Mediaevistik, 29, 2016, p. 314)

Summary

This practical guide aims to facilitate the discovery of narrative sources (chronicles, annals, saints’ lives) for a given area and time period. It lists editions, modern translations and, as far as possible, internet sites for texts.

Nine introductory essays discuss genres of historical narrative and the methods of medieval history writing, and also highlight the special character of Byzantine, Muslim, and Eastern Christian narrative sources.

János M. Bak is Professor Emeritus at UBC (Vancouver) and CEU (Budapest) and has published mostly on legal and social history.

Ivan Jurković is Assistant Professor of medieval history at the University of Pula (Istria, Croatia) and studies problems of Croatian nobility.