What is “a chronicle”?

The story behind the answer

Medieval chronicles were year-by-year accounts of real happenings, arranged in time order. Compilers—often monks or royal clerks—noted battles, accessions, treaties, eclipses, and famines, aiming to preserve communal memory rather than tell a personal story or imagine the future.

Famous examples include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Jean Froissart’s account of the Hundred Years’ War. Though invaluable, they reflect the perspectives and priorities of their authors: local events may loom large; miracles sit beside mundane notes; dates can be inconsistent. Modern historians cross-check multiple chronicles with archaeology and science (like tree rings or ice cores) to trace political change, climate shocks, and the spread of the Black Death.