Chronicles, historical works and sources from the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Chronicles are important works of passing down history, reference works and sources in which the chronological sequence of events plays a special part. These can be categorised into world chronicles, papal, imperial and royal chronicles, national chronicles, monastery, church and city chronicles. Chroniclers draw their knowledge about the creation of the world and the first millennia of world history primarily from the Bible, in particular the Old Testament.

A connection is often made between Christian salvation history and secular history, for example in the prophecies of the Sibyls (Cgm 426). Therefore you will also find the lives of saints, such as the life of Saint Francis of Bonaventure (Cgm 65) and Bishop Simpert of Augsburg (Clm 30044) in this selection.

The chronicle as a form of historiography was already developed in antiquity, but it experienced its heyday in the Latin-influenced West in the high and late Middle Ages. The larger chronological context of the reigns of kings and popes, for example, served as orientation. The time and space of the representations vary. With Thomas Lirer's Swabian Chronicle (Cgm 436) and Jan Enikel's World Chronicle (Cgm 250), bavarikon shows two impressive representatives of the genre, which combine world and national chronicles. In Andreas Zainer's Chronicle of the Landshut War of Succession (Cgm 1598), however, the focus is on an event that was limited in time and region.

Further collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek on the subject in bavarikon

>> This collection is part of the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library).

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