Medieval Historiography History 10 Medieval Historiography

Writing From the beginning… Medieval and Renaissance historians always began their histories at creation Historians purposely connected the distant past to a present person, event or thing Histories were written in part to glorify God and demonstrate His Will Medieval historians were not scientific chroniclers but meaning creators Even a history discussing Julius Caesar would begin with some sort of reference to Genesis

Medieval historians made use of typology Typology as History Medieval historians made use of typology Typology is the use of a real historical person, thing or event as a metaphor (or symbol) for another real person, thing or event Typology is the language of the Bible, e.g. Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac typifies (or prefigures) God’s sacrifice of his son Jesus. Jonah’s three days in the belly of the whale typifies the three days Jesus spent in the tomb.