A chronicle is a record of events written in the order they happened, like a timeline. It includes both important events and local events, showing what happened from the viewpoint of the person who wrote it. A chronicle that covers the history of the whole world is called a universal chronicle. This is different from a narrative or history, where the writer picks certain events to explain and ignores others they think are not important.

The sources of information for chronicles can be different. Some are based on what the writer directly knew, others come from people who saw or took part in events, and some are stories passed down through generations. Some chronicles use written materials like documents, letters, or older chronicles. Others are stories with unknown origins that are considered mythical. People who copied chronicles sometimes changed them, adding new information or correcting details that the original writer did not have. Historians work to determine how reliable each chronicle is.

Many newspapers and other publications use the word "chronicle" in their names.

Subgroups

History, especially in the form of Chronicles, was an important part of literature during the Middle Ages. In many places, records of events were kept based on the years of a ruler's reign, not the years since the start of the Christian era. Chronicles written in large cities followed a similar pattern, using the years of the chief leaders of the city instead of the Christian era.

Scholars divide the genre of chronicle into two types: live chronicles and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is a record of events up to the time it is written, but it does not include new events as they happen. A live chronicle is created by one or more writers who regularly add new information, recording events as they occur. Historians often prefer live chronicles, such as annals, because they provide information quickly.

The word "chronicle" usually refers to a book written in the Middle Ages that describes historical events in a country, the life of a noble person, or a religious leader. It can also mean a record of public events. The earliest medieval chronicle that includes both past events and events happening during the time it was written is the Chronicle of Ireland, which covers the years from 431 to 911.

Chronicles are the early form of modern "time lines" rather than detailed historical analyses. They describe events, either in writing or poetry, over a long period of time, including the life of the person who wrote them and sometimes the lives of others who continued the work. If a chronicle records events year by year, it is often called an annal. Unlike modern historians, most chroniclers used information they found without trying to separate facts from stories. Their perspective was often limited to their local area, and many anonymous chroniclers were connected to specific monasteries.

It is difficult to know exactly how many chronicles exist because the definition of the genre is unclear. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists about 2,500 chronicles written between the years 300 and 1500 AD.

Citation of entries

Entries in chronicles are often referenced using the abbreviation "s.a.," which stands for "sub anno," meaning "under the year." This refers to the year listed in the chronicle where the entry appears. For example, "ASC MS A, s.a. 855" means the entry for the year 855 in manuscript A of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The same event might be recorded under a different year in another manuscript of the chronicle. For example, it could be cited as "ASC MS D, s.a. 857."

English chronicles

The most important English records are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which began under King Alfred's support in the 9th century and continued until the 12th century, and the Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577–87) by Raphael Holinshed and other writers. These later records were important sources of information for plays from the Elizabethan era. Scottish records written in the late 16th century, after the Reformation, showed history from the perspective of Catholic or Protestant beliefs.

Cronista

A cronista is a name for a person who writes about history. This role was important in Europe during the Middle Ages. Before the Enlightenment, cronistas worked like historians, writing about important events in a country or region in order of when they happened. Often, this was a job given by the government, not something people did on their own. City councils usually decided who would be the official chronicler after discussing in meetings. These positions were often given to people who had shown skill in studying and sharing information about people. The job was usually unpaid and lasted for life. Today, the word "cronista" often describes a journalist who writes stories about events or someone who records history without being a professional.

Before modern journalism and organized ways of writing about events, cronistas were responsible for writing about events that were important enough to remember, recording them year by year. Unlike writers who made up stories about living people, cronistas wrote about real events in people’s lives in a way that tried to be honest and based on facts.

Even in early Christian history, cronistas were expected to write about human events in a way that connected them to a clear timeline, starting with the creation of humans and ending with the return of Christ, as described in the Bible.