Annals (Latin: annāles, from annus, "year") are short and to the point historical records that list events in order of time, year by year. Sometimes, the word "annals" is also used more generally to describe any type of historical record.

Scope

The difference between annals and history comes from ideas created by ancient Romans. Verrius Flaccus, as recorded by Aulus Gellius, explained that the word "history" (from Greek historein, meaning "to observe personally") refers only to works based on direct observations, like those written by Thucydides. Annals, on the other hand, are records of past events organized by year. Hayden White explains that annals differ from chronicles, which group events by topics such as the time a king ruled, and from histories, which aim to explain events and show their importance. Annalists typically write in a simple and straightforward way, without explaining reasons or emphasizing any particular event.

History

The main sources of information about the history of ancient Rome come from two passages written by Cicero and Servius. These passages have been widely discussed. Cicero wrote that from the founding of the Republic until the time of Publius Mucius Scaevola (around 132 BC), the highest religious leader, called the pontifex maximus, recorded the names of officials and important events each year on a white tablet (called an album). This tablet was displayed publicly so people could read it. Servius wrote that events were recorded for each day. Later in the Republic, these records were called the Annales Maximi. After Scaevola's time, other people began writing annals, and Cicero named Cato, Pictor, and Piso as some of these writers. These annals are often compared to the Commentarii Pontificum mentioned by Livy, but some scholars believe they were different, with the Commentarii being more detailed. Verrius Flaccus's classification of writing styles is reflected in how Tacitus's works are divided into Annals and Histories, even though Tacitus did not use these titles for his own writings.

Early Christians often determined the date of Easter by asking Jewish communities for the date of Passover (Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar) and using that date or the nearest Sunday. By the end of the 3rd century, this date sometimes fell before the spring equinox and varied between cities. After the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Easter dates were calculated using different methods and recorded in tables that extended for decades or centuries. Starting in the 7th century, monks in Ireland, Wales, and England began adding brief notes about important yearly events as marginalia in these tables. From then on, creating annals became mainly a monastic task. The earliest known monastic annals were written in Ireland and called the Chronicle of Ireland. Not all early annals were written by monks, however. Some were created with royal support, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which focused on the actions of kings. Other examples include the Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Ulster, the Annals of Innisfallen, and the Annals of Wales (Annales Cambriæ).

These annals were copied and expanded by missionaries who brought them to other regions, especially in Austrasia. During the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance, annals became the standard way to record contemporary history. Examples include the Royal Frankish Annals, the Annals of Fulda (Annales Fuldenses), the Annals of St. Bertin (Annales Bertiniani), and the Annals of Lorsch (Annales Laureschamenses). As annals became more detailed and descriptive, they grew harder to distinguish from chronicles, though the term "annals" was still used for works like the Annals of Waverley.

In modern times, the word "annals" is used loosely to describe works that follow a yearly order, such as Western examples like English Annual Registers, French Annuaires de la Revue, and German Jahrbücher, as well as similar records in other cultures, like the Chinese Spring and Autumn Annals. The term is also used for scientific journals, following the model of Lavoisier's Annales de chimie et de physique.