Rewriting History in the Central Middle Ages, 900-1300
Edited by Emily A. Winkler Edited by Chris P. Lewis
In the Middle Ages, rewriting history was a distinct activity within the larger sphere of historical writing. Rewriting started with existing historical accounts, recasting them into new forms as new stories about the past. Changes in circumstances drove rewriting, encouraging historically literate writers and their patrons to examine their histories anew, to jettison what no longer made sense or was useful, and to supply new material to fill gaps or expand ideas. Writers rewrote not only for the present and future, but also for the past. They curated the past and reorganized its intellectual artifacts, thereby revealing new facets of old history to future eyes. Rewriting was a defining characteristic of the central Middle Ages (900-1300), distinct both from earlier traditions of universal history and from later traditions of making continuations which left the narrative core intact. Reimagining the past by rewriting happened across genres, in the vernaculars as well as the universal languages of Latin and Greek, and across Europe, west and east. The chapters in this book explore the reasons and methods for rewriting, ranging across the Anglo-Norman realm, France and Flanders, Christian Iberia, Norman Italy and the Mediterranean, Byzantium, and Georgia and Armenia. Together, they show a set of rewriters who made themselves the authorities for their own age.
In the Middle Ages, rewriting history was a distinct activity within the larger sphere of historical writing. Rewriting started with existing historical accounts, recasting them into new forms as new stories about the past. Changes in circumstances drove rewriting, encouraging historically literate writers and their patrons to examine their histories anew, to jettison what no longer made sense or was useful, and to supply new material to fill gaps or expand ideas. Writers rewrote not only for the present and future, but also for the past. They curated the past and reorganized its intellectual artifacts, thereby revealing new facets of old history to future eyes. Rewriting was a defining characteristic of the central Middle Ages (900-1300), distinct both from earlier traditions of universal history and from later traditions of making continuations which left the narrative core intact. Reimagining the past by rewriting happened across genres, in the vernaculars as well as the universal languages of Latin and Greek, and across Europe, west and east. The chapters in this book explore the reasons and methods for rewriting, ranging across the Anglo-Norman realm, France and Flanders, Christian Iberia, Norman Italy and the Mediterranean, Byzantium, and Georgia and Armenia. Together, they show a set of rewriters who made themselves the authorities for their own age.
- Edited by Emily A. Winkler
- Edited by Chris P. Lewis
Other Titles in this Series
Approaches to Poverty in Medieval Europe
Complexities, Contradictions, Transformations, c. 1100-1500
Volume 22
The Medieval Household in Christian Europe, c. 850-c. 1550
Managing Power, Wealth, and the Body
Volume 12
Languages of Love and Hate
Conflict, Communication, and Identity in the Medieval Mediterranean
Volume 15
The Vocation of Service to God and Neighbour
Essays on the Interests, Involvements and Problems of Religious Communities and their Members in Medieval Society
Volume 5
Exile in the Middle Ages
Selected Proceedings from the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 8-11 July 2002
Volume 13
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