OIKOS Masterclass - "Chronicles as Genre and Historical Sources"

OIKOS Masterclass organized by Jan-Markus Kötter (Düsseldorf).

Chronicles are the defining genre of Latin historiography in Late Antiquity. However, they long had a bad reputation among scholars: in contrast to classical historiography, their shortcomings in terms of detail and level of reflection seemed too obvious. Fortunately, this view has changed in recent years, but the genre still poses challenges for those unfamiliar with it. The OIKOS-Masterclass approaches the genre as well as its source value. First, we will define what a chronicle actually is, what the fundamental characteristics of the genre are and which texts are particularly central to the generic development. In a second step, we will look at the challenges of reading and interpreting chronicles in general. Finally, we will take a closer look at a specific example of two smaller chronicles (i.e. the Prosper continuations of Reichenau and Oviedo) in order to gain an insight into their ‘Sitz im Leben’, production and transmission.

Please register for the Masterclass by sending an email to Erika Manders (erika.manders ru.nl).