Historiography: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The [[Early centers of Christianity|growth of Christianity]] and its enhanced status in the Roman Empire after [[Constantine I and Christianity|Constantine&nbsp;I]] (see [[State church of the Roman Empire]]) led to the development of a distinct Christian historiography, influenced by both [[Christian theology]] and the nature of the [[Christian Bible]], encompassing new areas of study and views of history. The central role of the Bible in Christianity is reflected in the preference of Christian historians for written sources, compared to the classical historians' preference for oral sources and is also reflected in the inclusion of politically unimportant people. Christian historians also focused on development of religion and society. This can be seen in the extensive inclusion of written sources in the ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'' of [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] around 324 and in the subjects it covers.<ref name="sxixkf">[http://www.cuw.edu/Academics/programs/history/historiography.html ''Historiography''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018032745/http://www.cuw.edu/Academics/programs/history/historiography.html |date=2007-10-18 }}, Concordia University Wisconsin, retrieved on 2 November 2007</ref> Christian theology considered time as linear, progressing according to divine plan. As God's plan encompassed everyone, Christian histories in this period had a universal approach. For example, Christian writers often included summaries of important historical events prior to the period covered by the work.<ref>Warren, John (1998). ''The past and its presenters: an introduction to issues in historiography'', Hodder & Stoughton, {{ISBN|0-340-67934-4}}, pp. 67–68.</ref>

Writing history was popular among Christian monks and clergy in the [[Middle Ages]]. They wrote about[[Fan thefiction|fan historyfictions]] ofabout Jesus Christ, that of the Church and that of their patrons, the dynastic history of the local rulers. In the [[early medieval|Early Middle Ages]] historical writing often took the form of [[annals]] or [[chronicle]]s recording events year by year, but this style tended to hamper the analysis of events and causes.<ref>Warren, John (1998). ''The past and its presenters: an introduction to issues in historiography'', Hodder & Stoughton, {{ISBN|0-340-67934-4}}, pp. 78–79.</ref> An example of this type of writing is the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', which was the work of several different writers: it was started during the reign of [[Alfred the Great]] in the late 9th&nbsp;century, but one copy was still being updated in 1154. Some writers in the period did construct a more [[narrative]] form of history. These included [[Gregory of Tours]] and more successfully [[Bede]], who wrote both [[secular]] and [[ecclesiastical]] history and who is known for writing the ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]''.<ref name="sxixkf"/>

Outside of Europe and West Asia, Christian historiography also existed in Africa. For instance, [[Augustine of Hippo]], the [[Berbers|Berber]] theologian and bishop of [[Hippo Regius]] in [[Numidia (Roman province)|Numidia]] ([[Roman North Africa]]), wrote a multiple volume autobiography called ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]'' between 397 and 400 AD.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chadwick|first1=Henry|title=St. Augustine, Confessions| orig-year =1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19953782-2|page=xxix| year =2008}}</ref> While earlier pagan rulers of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] produced autobiographical style [[Epigraphy|epigraphic]] texts in locations spanning [[Ethiopia]], [[Eritrea]], and [[Sudan]] and in either Greek or the native [[Ge'ez script]],<ref>{{cite book|last=De Lorenzi|first=James|title=Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea|location=Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester Press]]|year=2015|pages=14–15|isbn=978-1-58046-519-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1WECgAAQBAJ| postscript = .}}</ref> the 4th century AD [[Ezana Stone]] commemorating [[Ezana of Axum]]'s conquest of the [[Kingdom of Kush]] in [[Nubia]] also emphasized his [[conversion to Christianity]] (the first indigenous African head of state to do so).<ref>{{cite book|last=Robin|first=Christian Julien|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|chapter=Arabia and Ethiopia|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-19-533693-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEYSDAAAQBAJ|editor-last=Johnson|editor-first=Scott Fitzgerald|page=276|translator=Arietta Papaconstantinou|postscript = .}}</ref> Aksumite manuscripts from the 5th to 7th centuries AD chronicling the [[diocese]]s and [[episcopal sees]] of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] demonstrate not only an adherence to Christian chronology but also influences from the non-Christian Kingdom of Kush, the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] of [[Hellenistic Egypt]], and the [[Yemenite Jews]] of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite book|last=De Lorenzi|first=James|title=Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea|location=Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester Press]]|year=2015|pages=15–16|isbn=978-1-58046-519-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1WECgAAQBAJ| postscript = .}}</ref> The tradition of [[Ethiopian historiography]] evolved into a matured form during the [[Solomonic dynasty]]. Though works such as the 13th century ''[[Kebra Nagast]]'' blended [[Christian mythology]] with historical events in its narrative, the first proper biographical chronicle on an [[Emperor of Ethiopia]] was made for [[Amda Seyon I]] (r. 1314–1344), depicted as a Christian savior of his nation in conflicts with the Islamic [[Ifat Sultanate]].<ref>{{cite book|last=De Lorenzi|first=James|title=Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea|location=Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester Press]]|year=2015|pages=17–18|isbn=978-1-58046-519-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1WECgAAQBAJ| postscript = .}}</ref> The 16th century monk [[Bahrey]] was the first in Ethiopia to produce a historical [[ethnography]], focusing on the migrating [[Oromo people]] who came into military conflict with the Ethiopian Empire.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Lorenzi|first=James|title=Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea|location=Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester Press]]|year=2015|page=20|isbn=978-1-58046-519-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1WECgAAQBAJ| postscript = .}}</ref> While royal biographies existed for individual Ethiopian emperors authored by court historians who were also clerical scholars within the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]], the reigns of [[Iyasu II]] (r. 1730–1755) and [[Iyoas I]] (r. 1755–1769) were the first to be included in larger general dynastic histories.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Lorenzi|first=James|title=Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea|location=Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester Press]]|year=2015|pages=20–22|isbn=978-1-58046-519-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1WECgAAQBAJ| postscript = .}}</ref>