The origin and development of the 'Chron icle> was immediately related to the growth of the annals. The annals were primarily a yearly record set down by a contemporary. The chronicle was more comprehensive. It normally consisted in the summarizing of the history of a considerable period on the basis of one or more sets of annals, pre erving the chronolog ical arrans.;ement of the annals. Many of the events by the chronicler might have occurred before his period and he might com bine the records contained in several annals in order to obtain a more complete and compre hensive story. To this compilation of annals was usually added, as an introduction, Jerome's translation of Eusebius"Chronicle,) which linked up the local chronicle with the Christian synthesis of world history from the beginning of creation. With the expansion of the basic annals in scope and pertinence, the chronicles became more and more an approximation to a history, until in the 'Anglo Saxon Chronicle,' the 'Chronicle' of Hermann of Reichenau (d. 1054), the (Univer,t1 Chronicle' of Ekke hard of Aurach in the early 12eh ,tury, the 'Chronicle) of Otto of Freising (d. 1158) and the 'Greater Chronicle' of Matthew of Paris (d. 1259) this characteristic vehicle of medieval historiography became one of the most thorough and reliable sources of information available in that age.
The following were the most important of the mediaeval annals. For the Carolingian period the 'Greater Annals of Lorsch) and their continuation to 829 in the (Royal Annals,' the 'Annals of Fulda' and the excellent of Saint Bertin> and (Saint Vaast,' coming down to the beginning of the 10th century, are the most valuable. The most important annals deal ing with early French history are those of Flodoard (d. 966). For English mediaeval his tory there is the above mentioned work of Roger of Hoveden coming down to 1201. For mediaeval Germany the great annalistic sources are the elegantly written but prejudiced 'Annals of Lambert of Hersfeld,' covering the period to 1077, and the more valuable 'Greater Annals of Cologne,' which come to 1237.
The chronicles dealing with mediaeval Ger man history begin with those of Fredegarius the Schoolmaster in the 7th century and of Regino of Prim in the 10th, and include the authoritative (Chronicle) of Hermann of Reichenau (d. 1054), Ekkehard of Aurach's (Universal Chronicle,' compiled at the begin ning of the 12th century and the most com prehensive of all mediaeval chronicles, the 'Chronic-le' of Otto of Freising (d. 1158), the most notable of 12th century historians, and the valuable of Arnold of Liibeck (d. 1212). For France the more famous chron icles are the of Nantes,' coming to 1049, those of Hugh of Flavigny and Sige bert of Gembloux in the 12th century and of William of Nangis at the beginning of the 14th century. The (Chronicles) of Froissart (1373 ff) are attractive but highly colored and prejudiced and they illustrate to some extent the transition from the mediaeval chronicle to the historical narrative. For England the great medieval chronicles are the Chronicle,' describing events to 1154; Roger of Wendover's of History,' coming down to 1235, and their continuation to 1259 in Matthew of Paris' 'Greater Chronicle.> From Italy is the valuable and voluminous 'Florentine Chronicle' of Giovanni Villain, dealing with events to 1348.
3. Attempts at Systematic History.— The efforts to produce something like a systematic historical treatise during the medieval period varied greatly in their success. Their nature was, on the whole, closely correlated with the changes in the general level of culture. The earliest were usually slovenly and labored in style, sadly inaccurate in grammar and entirely credulous and uncritical in method. In the latter part of the period, however, the level of scholarship was raised, and in the works of such an historian as Otto of Freising, in the middle of the 12th century, one meets for the first time with an author who will compare favorably with the second-rate figures in classical historiography. On the whole, there were few attempts at a general or international history of a period, and the histories chiefly concerned local or national events and movements or the deeds of a conspicuous national monarch.
The following were the more important works dealing with German history from the period of the "Invasions' The first of these, and the earliest product of medieval historiog raphy, was the 'Ten Books of Frankish His tory) of Gregory of Tours (540-594), which is the main source of information regarding the origin of the Merovingian dynasty. It was naive, credulous and prejudiced against the Goths, but was an exceedingly straightforward and human document, and was based, to a considerable degree, on Gregory's direct ob servations. The Lombards found their national historian in Paul the Deacon (725-800), an erudite member of the group of scholars at the court of Charlemagne. His 'History of the
Lombards> was greatly superior to Gregory's work with respect to both accuracy and style. The first layman to produce an historical work in the medieval period was Nithard, whose
Books of History' present an able and lucid narrative of the civil wars among the grandsons of Charlemagne and offer one of the few examples of vivid secular interests on the part of a medieval historian. The Saxon emperors had as their dynastic historian the monk Widukind, whose Weeds of the Saxons' gave an able survey of the reigns of Henry I and Otto the Great. A more penetrating ac count of the culture of this period is found in the (Book of Retribution,' the
of Otto' and the
of Liutprandt of Cre mona (d. 973). The finest products of medieval German historiography from the standpoint of style, accuracy and philosophic grasp were the 'Deeds of the Emperor Frederick the First' and the above mentioned
of Bishop Otto of Freising (c. 1114-58). While his lack of any scientific canons of criticism, his revival of the Augustine-Orosius philosophy of history in his 'Chronicle' and his bias in favor of his royal patron all combined to prevent his rank ing with the greatest historians of classical antiquity, his work illustrates the highest point to which the strictly medieval German his toriography attained. The eminent authority, Wegele, says of the work of Otto:
writer possessing such extraordinary literary talent as Otto of Freising did not appear again in German history for many a century. However much Lambert of Hersfeld may have excelled him as a polished narrator, Otto more than made up for this by the deep seriousness of his world-philosophy and the loftiness of the view point which he invariably maintained. What ever anyone may think of his philosophy, he is the only medieval German historian who was able to grasp in a philosophical manner the march of world-history and who sought to give it a judicious exposition. And he occupies no less conspicuous a position as a narrator of the history of his own times.* For France, alleged historical works began with the prolix and highly prejudiced 'Four Books of History) of Richer, who wrote at the very close of the 10th century and is almost the sole source for the establishment of the Capetian dynasty. An even less reliable and a thoroughly medieval work with the same title by Raoul Glaber carried the story down for a half century further. Somewhat better was the 'Gesta Dei per Francos) of Guibert of Nogent (1053-1124), which tells the story of the First Crusade, but it is based largely on an earlier Norman narrative and the author is hopelessly confused when he loses his guide. In the 12th century a superior work appeared in the lively and attractive