IMC 2003: Sessions
Session 507: Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages, IV: Calendars of Identity: Annalistic Time in the Early Middle Ages
Tuesday 15 July 2003, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | Forschungsstelle für Geschichte des Mittelalters, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht |
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| Organiser: | Maximilian Diesenberger, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien |
| Moderator/Chair: | Rob Meens, Instituut Geschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht |
| Paper 507-a | The Case of the Annals of Metz (Language: English) |
| Paper 507-b | The Case of the Annals of St Bertin (Language: English) |
| Paper 507-c | The Case of the Annals of Fulda (Language: English) |
| Abstract | How were annalistic structures used in historiographic texts of the Carolingian period? The session attempts a systematic comparison of three examples, the Annales Mettenses priores, the Annales Bertiniani and the Annales Fuldenses. The familiar titles of all these texts go back to rather arbitrary decisions by modern editors. Otherwise, the three ‚Annals‘ pose quite diverse question as to the use of annalistic structure in the early middle ages. In some manuscripts, for example, the text of the Annales Mettenses Priores is not arranged by years; the so-called Annales Bertiniani have mostly been transmitted as one element in historical compilations, often following late-antique chronicles and Histories of the Franks. The Annales Fuldenses, on the other hand, never continue other texts, but integrate selected information from earlier periods into an annalistic structure from the beginning. Discussing annalistic texts not as representatives of a genre but as historiographic practice should point to a research problem that has long been neglected and open new ways towards a better understanding of the texts. |