Narrative And History in the Early Medieval West (Studies in the Early Middle Ages 16)

This volume explores the nature of narrative in texts used as sources for history by modern scholars of the early medieval West. Narrative is defined here broadly as how stories are told and the volume focuses on the interaction of what texts say and with how they say it. The congruence of narrative and history is a wide subject, which can be approached in a number of ways. This volume examines four types of written source: poetry (Latin and vernacular), charters, biographical writing (hagiography and royal lives) and historical writings (histories and chronicles). These include traditional narrative sources as well as literary texts and documents not generally considered in terms of narrative. The ten studies in this volume cover a geographical range that includes the Carolingian Empire, the British Isles and Scandinavia, and from the Carolingian period through to the twelfth century. The Papers Gathered In This Volume Were All Given In 1999 - At The International Congress On Medieval Studies In Kalamazoo, At The International Medieval Congress In Leeds And During A Day Conference Held At York. They Agree That Looking At The Wide Range Of Narrative Forms Available Provides New Ways Of Viewing The Middle Ages. Introduction / Elizabeth M. Tyler And Ross Balzaretti -- Spoken Narratives In Ninth-century Milanese Court Records / Ross Balzaretti -- Reading Anglo-saxon Charters : Memory, Record, Or Strory? / Sarah Foot -- William Of Malmesbury's Use Of Charters / Julia Barrow -- Mixed Modes In Historical Narrative / Joaquín Martínez Pizarro -- Sad Stories Of The Death Of Kings : Narrative Patterns And Structures Of Authority In Regino Of Prüm's Chronicle / Stuart Airlie -- Narrating The Life Of Eusebius Of Vercelli / Nick Everett -- Ælfric's Account Of St. Swithun : Literature Of Reform And Reward / Elaine Treharne -- Folklore And Historiography : Oral Stories And The Writing Of Anglo-saxon History / Catherine Cubitt -- Poetics And The Past : Making History With Old English Poetry / Elizabeth M. Tyler -- The Meaning Of The Narrative Moment : Poets And History In The Late Viking Age / Judith Jesch. Ed. By Elizabeth M. Tyler And Ross Balzaretti. Selected Conference Papers. Includes Bibliographical References. Cover......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 7 Preface......Page 9 List of Abbreviations......Page 11 Introduction......Page 13 Spoken Narratives in Ninth-Century Milanese Court Records......Page 23 Reading Anglo-Saxon Charters: Memory, Record, or Story?......Page 51 William of Malmesbury’s Use of Charters......Page 79 Mixed Modes in Historical Narrative......Page 103 ‘Sad stories of the death of kings’: Narrative Patterns and Structures of Authority in Regino of Prüm’s Chronicle......Page 117 Narrating the Life of Eusebius of Vercelli......Page 145 Ælfric’s Account of St Swithun: Literature of Reform and Reward......Page 179 Folklore and Historiography: Oral Stories and the Writing of Anglo-Saxon History......Page 201 Poetics and the Past: Making History with Old English Poetry......Page 237 The ‘Meaning of the Narrative Moment’: Poets and History in the Late Viking Age......Page 263 "This collection deliberately brings together work which is chronologically, geographically and generically diverse. Texts studied include traditional narrative historiography, alongside poetry, chronicles, charters, dispute settlements and hagiography. The essays range from Italy and Frankia to Scandinavia and England, as they examine texts produced from the seventh to the early twelfth century. In exploring the nature and function of narrative in texts, which modern scholars use to study the Middle Ages, the contributors to this interdisciplinary volume integrate social, political, intellectual and literary history. Each essay and the volume as a whole illustrate that narrative form offers both new vantage points on the Middle Ages and new opportunities for collaborative study." -- Provided by publisher