Literary Variety and the Writing of History in Britain's Long Twelfth Century
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A01=Dr. Jacqueline M Burek
A01=Jacqueline M Burek
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Dr. Jacqueline M Burek
Author_Jacqueline M Burek
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=DSBB
Category=HB
Category=HD
Category=N
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=2
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Geoffrey of Monmouth
Henry of Huntingdon
Language_English
Latin
Laȝamon
Middle English
Norman Conquest
PA=Available
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
Robert Mannyng
softlaunch
Vernacular Poetry
Verse Chroniclers
William of Malmesbury
Product details
- ISBN 9781914049101
- Weight: 520g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 10 Jan 2023
- Publisher: York Medieval Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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A survey of the different literary forms adopted by history writers after the Conquest, exploring why and for what effects they were used.
Histories of Britain composed during the "twelfth-century renaissance" display a remarkable amount of literary variety (Latin varietas). Furthermore, British historians writing after the Norman Conquest often draw attention to the differing forms of their texts. But why would historians of this period associate literary variety with the work of history-writing?
Drawing on theories of literary variety found in classical and medieval rhetoric, this book traces how British writers came to believe that varietas could help them construct comprehensive, continuous accounts of Britain's past. It shows how Latin prose historians, such as William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, filled their texts with a diverse array of literary forms, which they carefully selected and ordered in accordance with their broader historiographical aims. The pronounced literary variety of these influential histories inspired some Middle English verse chroniclers, including Laȝamon and Robert Mannyng, to adopt similar principles in their vernacular poetry. By uncovering the rhetorical and historiographical theories beneath their literary variety, this book provides a new framework for interpreting the stylistic and organizational choices of medieval historians.
