Glasgow Chronicle Group - Examining historical writing from the Middle Ages
The Chronicle Group was set up in October 2012 to provide a casual monthly forum for academics who deal with medieval primary source material. The group meets on a monthly basis to examine a theme and provides a friendly environment for the discussion of on-going work as well as the more general historiographical debates surrounding medieval sources. Although called the Chronicle Group the discussion does not limit itself too narrowly and encourages a wider discussion of themes and issues surrounding medieval source texts.
Meetings are on the last Friday of every month and are held at 12pm in Room 207, no.9 University Gardens. (Unless stated otherwise)
The Chronicle Group is run in association with the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies
Dates for 2012-2013
| 26.10.2012 12noon |
‘What is a chronicle?’ An open discussion to explore the complexities of genre and form of the chronicle. The hand-out can be provided on request. |
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13.11.2012 |
Visiting speaker: Jaclyn Rajsic (New College, University of Oxford), ‘Making British history English in the thirteenth century: some short, genealogical chronicles’ |
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‘Who wrote history in the middle ages? Does it matter?’ The main theme of this meeting will be the authorship of chronicles (and other medieval source material). Questions to be addressed include: How does authorial identity affect the nature of the source? How does the presence of multiple authors either at one time, or over a course of time, affect our perception and understanding of the text? Does modern editing practice have an adverse effect on our understanding of medieval sources? Suggested reading: Vanderputten, Steven, ‘Individual experience, collective remembrance and the politics of monastic reform in high medieval Flanders’, Early Medieval Europe, 20 (2012), pp. 70-89 |
| 14.12.2012 12noon |
‘Bring and Share’ We hope that in this last meeting of the term the discussions can be focused on a wider array of sources. As a Bring and Share session, the aim is to provide an informal session where sources of interest, or of trouble are brought to the table and discussed in relation to the research conducted. |
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25.1.2013
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‘Dragons, Saints, and Rains of Frogs – What qualified as “history” in the Middle Ages?’ |
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22.2.2013
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A number of monastic sources combine narratives with official documentation of charters to record their past. The meeting will address problems with integrating chronicle-cartularies with other research based on cartularies and charters, such as to what extent does the chronicle add to or detract from the charter? Examples will largely be drawn from the Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis and the Historia Fundatonis of Byland and Jervaulx abbeys, modern editions of both are available in the GUL. |
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22.3.2013
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Narratives in legal records. In this session, hosted by Fergus Oakes, we will consider the relationship between chronicles and another staple of historical research; the legal record. Much like chronicles, legal records present the historian with details pertaining to specific events and circumstances, often situated within a broader chronological framework. Yet, their specifically judicial purpose begs a series of questions. Can legal sources be considered narrative accounts in the same sense that a chronicle, or history, might be? How, if at all do legal records and chronicles overlap? And, can we view legal records as comparatively more trustworthy than the history, or chronicle? |
| 26.4.2013 | The Chronicles of Froissart. In what ways was the chronicle produced as entertainment? |
| 24.5.2013 | William Hepburn will discuss Scottish prose in chronicles with reference 'Short Scottish Prose Chronicles', Embree, Kennedy and Daly (eds) (Boydell, 2013). |
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31.5.2013
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'Short Scottish prose chronicles' - to be chaired by William Hepburn. A description of the areas to be covered is outlined below. ---------------------------------------- There is little coverage of contemporary events in surviving historical writing about Scotland from c. 1450 – c. 1550. However, several short chronicles written in this period, seven of which have been collected in a recent volume by Dan Embree, Edward Kennedy and Kathleen Daly, offer a, usually indirect, perspective on the times in which they were written. Most of them do not include detailed information about contemporary events, instead focusing on earlier history and legend, but understanding how and why they were written can open up a diversity of insights about Scotland in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Areas to explore include: French diplomatic interests in the depiction of Anglo-Scottish relations in La Vraie Cronicque d’Escoce The influence of contemporary politics on historical depictions of England and the English by Scottish writers Changing readerships and new forms of Scottish historical writing ---------------------------------------- Reading for this month's session comes from the introduction to; Dan Embree, Edward Donald Kennedy and Kathleen Daly (eds.), Short Prose Scottish Chronicles (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2012). The relevant extracts can be provided on request (see keey contacts on right). As ever, hot beverages and biscuits will be supplied free of charge. |
22.2.2013