Annals (Latin Annales, from annus, a year) are a concise form of
historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year.
History
Ancient Rome
The chief sources of information in regard to the annals of ancient Rome are two passages in
Cicero (De Oratore, ii. 12. 52) and in Servius (ad Aen. i. 373) which have been the subject of much discussion. Cicero states
that from the earliest period down to the pontificate of Publius Mucius Scaevola (c.
131 BC), it was usual for the pontifex maximus to record on a white tablet (album), which
was exhibited in an open place at his house, so that the people might read it, first, the name of the consuls and other
magistrates, and then the noteworthy events that had occurred during the year (per singulos dies, as Servius says). These
records were called in Cicero's time the Annales Maximi. After the pontificate of Publius, the practice of compiling
annals was carried on by various unofficial writers, of whom Cicero names Cato,
Pictor and Piso. The Annales have been generally regarded as
the same with the Commentarii Pontificum cited by Livy, but there seems reason to believe that the two were distinct, the
Commentarii being fuller and more circumstantial. The nature of the distinction between annals and history is a subject
that has received more attention from critics than its intrinsic importance deserves. The basis of discussion is furnished
chiefly by the above-quoted passage from Cicero, and by the common division of the work of Tacitus into Annales and Historiae. Aulus Gellius, in the Noctes Atticae
(v. 18), quotes the grammarian Verrius Flaccus, to the effect that history, according to
its etymology (ιστορειν, inspicere, to inquire in person), is a record of events that have come under the author's own
observation, while annals are a record of the events of earlier times arranged according to years. This view of the distinction
seems to be borne out by the division of the work of Cornelius Tacitus into the
Historiae, relating the events of his own time, and the Annales,
containing the history of earlier periods. It is more than questionable, however, whether Tacitus himself divided his work under
these titles. The probability is, either that he called the whole Annales, or that he used neither designation.
Medieval
In [Middle Ages]], when the order of the liturgical feasts was partly determined by the date of Easter, the custom was early established in the Western Church of
drawing up tables to indicate that date for a certain number of years or even centuries. These Paschal tables were thin books in
which each annual date was separated from the next by a more or less considerable blank space. In these spaces certain monks
briefly noted the important events of the year. It was at the end of the 7th century and
among the Irish that the compiling of these Annals was first begun – see the
Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Ulster, the Annals of Innisfallen
and the Annales Cambriae or Annals of Wales, one of the earliest sources for
King Arthur. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is
also in annalistic, year-by-year form.
Introduced by missionaries on the continent, they were re-copied, augmented and continued, especially in the kingdom of
Austrasia. In the 9th century, during the great movement
termed the Carolingian Renaissance, these Annals became the usual form of contemporary history; it suffices to mention the
Royal Frankish Annals, the Annales
Fuldenses, the Annales Bertiniani, the Annales Laureshamenses (or "of Lorsch"), officially compiled in order to preserve the memory of the more
interesting acts of Charlemagne, his ancestors and his successors. Arrived at this stage of development, the Annals now began to
lose their primitive character, and henceforward became more and more indistinguishable from the Chronicles, though the term was still used for many documents, such as the Annals of Waverley.
18th century to present
In modern literature the title annals has been given to a large number of standard works which adhere more or less
strictly to the order of years. The best known are the Annales
Ecclesiastici, written by Cardinal Baronius as a rejoinder to and refutation
of the Historia eccesiastica or "Centuries" of the Protestant theologians of
Magdeburg (12 volumes, published in Rome from 1788 to
1793; Baronius's work stops at the year 1197). In the
19th century the annalistic form was once more employed, either to preserve year by year
the memory of passing events (Annual Register, Annuaire de la Revue des deux mondes, &c.) or in writing the
history of obscure medieval periods (Jahrbücher der deutschen Geschichte, Jahrbücher des deutschen Reiches,
Richter's Reichsannalen, etc.).
Other works
Other historical works known by the title Annals include:
Magazines and journals include:
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia
Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public
domain.
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