HISTORICAL LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE Aciss.
1. Its Relation to Patristic Antecedents.— It will be evident from the foregoing discussion that Orosius and Cassidorus were the standard historical authorities for the Middle Ages and that there was no break with the Patristic philosophy of history or historical methods. "The Middle Ages,'" says Professor Burr, «did not dissever history and theology. Nay to for bid it there grew to completeness that con summate preserver of the unity of thought, the procedure against heresy. And to the end of that long age of faith history did not escape tie paternal eye.» The chief representatives of his toriography in the Middle Ages, as of other phases of mediaeval culture, were churchmen of one sort or another. The same zeal for the miraculous and diabolical and disregard of such non-essential «commonplaces» as the foundation and disruption of states and epoch-making po litical, economic and social movements still per sisted unimpaired. The «Christian Epic» kept its prestige unshattered and almost unchallenged for 14 centuries, disturbed only slightly by the 13th century «revival,» the growth of humanism and the controversies of the Reformation period. It never received its first staggering blow until, in the 18th century, the English and French (Deists') and revealed its weak nesses and inconsistencies by their penetrating and disconcerting criticism. If anything, in at least the first centuries after the close of the Patristic period, there was a decline in scholar ship. The mediaeval writers not only retained the Patristic defects but added to them the ab sence of the great erudition of many of the 'Fathers' and the presence of those crudities incident to a recent emergence from barbarism. This assimilation of the Patristic outlook and methodology and its adaptation to mediaeval capacities was primarily the work of Rhabanus Maurus (776-856), his pupil and disciple, Wala frid Strabo (c. 809-849) and John Scotus Eri gena (d. 877). Heinrich von Sybel thus sum marizes the outstanding characteristics of medieval historiography in a manner which brings out clearly its close relation to Patristic historical literature: "This period possessed no idea of historical judgment, no sense of historical reality, no trace of critical reflection. The principle of authority, ruling without limi tation in the religious domain, defended all tradition, as well as traditional dogma. Men
were everywhere more inclined to believe than to examine, everywhere imagination had the upper hand of reason. No distinction was made between ideal and real, between poetical and historical truth. Heroic poems were con sidered a true and lofty form of history and history was everywhere displaced by epics, legends or poetical fiotion of some kind. A course of slow historical development was traced back to a single great deed, a single personal cause. Almost no one scrupled to give to existing conditions the sanction of venerable age by means of fabricated history or forged documents. The question whether the as cribed derivation was true interested no one; it was enough if the result harmonized with existing rights, dominating interests and prev alent 2. Mediaeval Annals and Chronicles.— An excellent illustration of the primitive nature of medieval culture is the fact that during the first centuries the main form of historical writ ings was the 'Annals' which had been common in early Egypt and Babylonia. The medieval example of this type of historical writing origi nated in the early Carolingian period as an in cident of the mediaeval desire to locate the exact occurrence of Easter. The absence of a general knowledge of astronomy and chronology made it necessary for the more learned church men to prepare and distribute to monks and priests Easter tables giving the dates upon which Easter would occur for many years in advance. An almost universal practice arose of indicating on the margin opposite each year, the event, which, in the mind of the recorder, seemed to make that year most significant in the history of the locality. Not only were these early annals very scanty in the information they con tained, on account of mentioning only one or two conspicuous events which occurred during the year but they were rendered still less valu able hause the mediaeval annalist frequently consicrOred most important some insignificant avowed miracle or the transfer of the bones of a saint. information of little or no value to the investigator. In time, however, entries were ufelie frequent and the interests of the annalist grew wider, until the annals became, with such a work as Roger of Hoveden's 'An nals of English History,) in the early 13th cen tury, a valuable record of the development of a nation.