Chronicle: Difference between revisions

Chronicles are the predecessors of modern "[[time line]]s" 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 [[continuator]]s. If the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called [[annal]]s. 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 [[abbey]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Kuijpers |first1=Erika |last2=Lenarduzzi |first2=Carolina |last3=Pollmann |first3=Judith |last4=Dekker |first4=Theo |last5=Lassche |first5=Alie |date=2024 |title=Profiling local chroniclers in the early modern Low Countries |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/profiling-local-chroniclers-in-the-early-modern-low-countries/F9A0CE687017280D09433D596190A7AE |journal=Urban History |language=en |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1017/S0963926824000531 |issn=0963-9268}}</ref>

A '''cronista''' is a term for a historical chronicler, a role that held historical significance in the [[Middle Ages|European Middle Ages]]. Until the European [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], the occupation was largely equivalent to that of a historian, describing events chronologically that were of note in a given country or region. As such, it was often an official governmental position rather than an independent practice. The appointment of the official chronicler often favored individuals who had distinguished themselves by their efforts to study, investigate and disseminate [[population]]-related issues. The position was granted on a local level based on the mutual agreements of a city council in plenary meetings. Often, the occupation was honorary, unpaid, and stationed for life. In modern usage, the term usually refers to a type of [[journalist]] who writes chronicles as a form of [[journalism]] or non-professional historical documentation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dadson|first=Trevor J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UW-D822uBMC&q=Cronista+spain&pg=PA51|title=The Genoese in Spain: Gabriel Bocángel Y Unzueta, 1603-1658 : a Biography|date=1983|publisher=Tamesis|isbn=978-0-7293-0161-9|language=es}}</ref>

===Cronista in the Middle Ages===

Before the development of modern journalism and the systematization of chronicles as a journalistic genre, cronista were tasked with narrating chronological events considered worthy of remembrance that were recorded year by year. Unlike writers who created [[Epic Poetry|epic poems]] regarding living figures, cronista recorded historical events in the lives of individuals in an ostensibly truthful and reality-oriented way.<ref name=":0" />

Even from the time of early Christian historiography, cronistas were clearly expected to place human history in the context of a linear progression, starting with the creation of man until the [[Second Coming|second coming of Christ]], as prophesied in [[The Bible|biblical texts]].<ref>Richard W. Burgess, Studies in Eusebian and post-Eusebian Chronography, Stuttgart (1999).</ref>

*''[[Alexandrian World Chronicle]] - Greek history of the world until 392 AD

*''[[Maronite Chronicle]]'' – [[Levant|The Levant]], anonymous [[Annals|annalistic]] chronicle in the [[Syriac language]] completed shortly after 664.  

*''[[Shahnama-yi-Al-i Osman]]'' by [[Fethullah Arifi Çelebi]] – [[Ottoman empire]] (1300 ac – the end of Sultan [[Suleyman I]]'s reign) which is the fifth volume of it [[Süleymanname]]

* ''Rhymed Chronicle of Flanders'', part of the {{ill|Comburg Manuscript|nl|Comburgse handschrift}}. It is unique as all other surviving Dutch-language chronicles of Flanders were written in prose.

* ''New Prussian Chronicle'' by [[Wigand of Marburg]]

{{Historiography}}{{Time Topics}}