A chronicle (Latin: chronica, from Greek χρονικά, from χρόνος, chronos, "time") is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, which sets selected events in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important.

Where a chronicler obtained the information varies; some chronicles are written from first-hand knowledge, some are from witnesses or participants in events, still others are accounts passed mouth to mouth prior to being written down.^[1] Some used written material: Charters, letters, or the works of earlier chroniclers.^[1] Still others are tales of such unknown origins so as to hold mythical status.^[1] Copyists also affected chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original author(s).^[1] The reliability of a particular chronicle is an important determination for modern historians.^[1]

In modern times various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories. A chronicle which traces world history is called a universal chronicle.

Subgroups[edit]

Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, over dead ones.

The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. The earliest medieval chronicle to combine both retrospective (dead) and contemporary (live) entries, is the Chronicle of Ireland, which spans the years 431 to 911.^[2]

Chronicles are the predecessors of modern "time lines" rather than analytical histories. They represent accounts, in prose or verse, of local or distant events over a considerable period of time, both the lifetime of the individual chronicler and often those of several subsequent continuators. If the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, and made little attempt to separate fact from legend. The point of view of most chroniclers is highly localised, to the extent that many anonymous chroniclers can be sited in individual abbeys.

It is impossible to say how many chronicles exist, as the many ambiguities in the definition of the genre make it impossible to draw clear distinctions of what should or should not be included. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists some 2,500 items written between 300 and 1500 AD.

English chronicles[edit]

The most important English chronicles are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, started under the patronage of King Alfred in the 9th century and continued until the 12th century, and the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577–87) by Raphael Holinshed and other writers; the latter documents were important sources of materials for Elizabethan drama.^[3] Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints.

Alphabetical list of notable chronicles[edit]

• 
  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — England
  


• 
  Annales Bertiniani – West Francia
  


• 
  Annales Cambriae – Wales
  


• 
  Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae – Poland
  


• 
  Annals of Inisfallen — Ireland
  


• 
  Annals of Lough Cé – Ireland
  


• 
  Annals of the Four Masters — Ireland
  


• 
  Annals of Spring and Autumn — China
  


• 
  Babylonian Chronicles — Mesopotamia
  


• 
  Anonymous Bulgarian Chronicle — Bulgaria
  


• 
  Bodhi Vamsa — Sri Lanka
  


• 
  Buranji — Ahoms, Assam, India


• Cāmadevivaṃsa — a Northern Thai Chronicle


• 
  Culavamsa — Sri Lanka
  


• (Chronica Polonorum): see Gesta principum Polonorum
  


• Cheitharol Kumbaba (kumpapa) – Manipur, India
  


• Chronica Gentis Scotorum


• 
  Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae – Poland
  


• 
  Chronicon of Eusebius


• 
  Chronicon Scotorum – Ireland
  


• 
  Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg


• 
  Chronicle (Crònica) by Ramon Muntaner - 13th/14th-century Crown of Aragon. Third and longest of the Grand Catalan Chronicles.


• 
  Chronicle of Finland (Chronicon Finlandiae) by Johannes Messenius – Finland
  


• 
  Dioclean Priest's Chronicle — Europe
  


• 
  Chronicle of the Slavs — Europe
  


• 
  Chronicle of Greater Poland – Poland
  


• Chronicle (Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh)


• 
  Chronica Hungarorum – History of Hungary
  


• 
  Chronicle of Jean de Venette – France
  


• 
  Chronicle of the Bishops of England (De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum) by William of Malmesbury
  


• 
  Chronicle of the Kings of England (De Gestis Regum Anglorum) by William of Malmesbury
  


• 
  Chronographia – 11th century History of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) by Michael Psellos
  


• Comentarios Reales de los Incas


• 
  Conversion of Kartli — Georgia
  


• 
  Cronaca fiorentina – Chronicle of Florence up to the end of the 14th Century by Baldassarre Bonaiuti
  


• 
  Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum – Poland
  


• 
  Croyland Chronicle — England
  


• 
  Dawn-Breakers (Nabil's Narrative) — Bahá'í Faith and Middle East
  


• 
  Dipavamsa — Sri Lanka
  


• 
  Divan of the Abkhazian Kings — Georgia
  


• 
  Eric Chronicles — Sweden
  


• 
  Eusebius Chronicle — Mediterranean and Middle East
  


• 
  Fragmentary Annals of Ireland – Ireland
  


• 
  Froissart's Chronicles — France and Western Europe
  


• 
  Galician-Volhynian Chronicle — Ukraine
  


• 
  Georgian Chronicles — Georgia
  


• 
  Gesta Normannorum Ducum — Normandy
  


• Gesta principum Polonorum


• 
  Grandes Chroniques de France — France
  


• 
  Henry of Livona Chronicle — Eastern Europe
  


• 
  Historia Ecclesiastica — Norman England
  


• 
  The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie
  


• 
  History of the Prophets and Kings — Middle East and Mediterranean
  


• 
  Hustyn Chronicle – Eastern Europe
  


• 
  Jans der Enikel — Europe and Mediterranean
  


• 
  Jinakalamali – Northern Thailand
  


• Joannis de Czarnkow chronicon Polonorum – Poland


• 
  Jerome's Chronicle — Mediterranean and Middle East
  


• 
  Kaiserchronik -Central and southern Europe, Germany
  


• 
  Kano Chronicle — Nigeria
  


• 
  Lethrense Chronicle — Denmark
  


• 
  Libre dels Feyts - Book of the Deeds by James I of Aragon, first of the Grand Catalan Chronicles


• 
  Madala Panji – Chronicle of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, India, related to the History of Odisha
  


• 
  Mahavamsa — Sri Lanka
  


• 
  Manx Chronicle – Isle of Man
  


• 
  Nabonidus Chronicle — Mesopotamia
  


• 
  Nuova Cronica — Florence
  


• 
  Paschale Chronicle — Mediterranean
  


• 
  Primary Chronicle — Eastern Europe
  


• 
  Puranas — India
  


• 
  Rajatarangini — Kashmir
  


• 
  Roit and Quheil of Tyme -Scotland, Adam Abell
  


• 
  Roskildense Chronicle — Denmark
  


• 
  Royal Frankish Annals — Frankish Empire
  


• 
  Scotichronicon – by the Scottish historian Walter Bower
  


• 
  Skibby Chronicle – Danish Latin chronicle from the 1530s


• 
  Swiss illustrated chronicles — Switzerland
  


• 
  Zizhi Tongjian — China
  

See also[edit]

• Books of Chronicles


• Chronicles of Nepal


• List of English chronicles


• Medieval Chronicle Society

References[edit]