Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/602

ANNAM 536 ANNAS They are verj' often called after the name of the monastery in which the manuscript was found, e. g. "Annales Bertiniani", " Annales Sci. Amandi", etc. Often the only indication of the source of these Annals is the appearance of notes of local interest peculiar to the annals in question, inserted among common material known to have been taken from other sources. The repetition of notes concerning a definite locality or region may often lead to the dis- coverj- of the place of origin. Undoubtedly there are exceptions, and the "Annales" of Flodoard and of Lambert of Hersfeld, to cite no others, do not come within this anonymous class. But there are real chronicles, and even memoirs, in which the style, the co-ordination of material, revealing a personahty, are corroborated by indications of the author himself. This is notably true of the great majority of chroni- cles, and it happens more than once that great names like those of Herigerus of Lobbes, Anselm of Liege, Otto of Freisingen, Marianus Scotus, and Sigebert of Gembloux lend their authority to these literary productions. In annals and chronicles of a general character there is often to be found a section copied from earlier sources foUow-ed by original matter be- ginning with the very time of composition. In these annals the part which has been copied can often be traced verj- far back, and may reveal, in spite of the many disfigurements, the original source of this liter- ary production. This is the case, for example, in the annals of the manuscript of Saint-Germain-des-Pres discovered by Pertz and mentioned above. In chronicles the copied portion corresponds almost always to the period previous to the time when the author began to write and that alone, as a general rule,, has any value as a contemporary document. These points apply only to annals properly so called, and to universal chronicles. We have, obviously, historical collections which are valuable in all their parts, but for annals properly so called the c;ise is rare, and for chronicles it is true, in general, only of local chronicles. These, in fact, are often based on documents which may have perished, such as acts of donation, deeds, domestic memoirs, information of a more particular character than universal chronicles, and by far more liable to destruction. Use of . .v.^.ls and Chronicles. — We have seen that we possess some chronicles which are of great value because they embody within the narrative documents which it is often impossible to find or which have disappeared. These chronicles, then, perform the function of a cartulary. There are an- notated cartularies where the various documents are arranged in chronological order for the reign of the abbot or prince during which the events took place. This is notably the case in the "Gesta .Abbatum Lithiensum" of Folcuin of Saint-Bertin, a work some- times called " Chartularium Folcuini" (961). Epis- copal chronicles also offer us frequent instances of this class. It is sufficient to mention the "Gesta episcoporum Cameracensiurn " of the eleventh cen- tury. The majority of these local chronicles repro- duce the tradition, popular or local, of the monastery which they concern and confine themselves to re- cording gossip and various kinds of information. They often combine data baseil on monuments still in existence, without asking themselves whether the version of these sources had been tainted with leg- ends, and they did not take the least trouble to ex- amine the origin and value of their information. We should not be too severe in passing judgment on these works. The authors were bounded by a limited hori/oM, often equipped with merely a rudimentary trainmg, without the many devices for facilitating labour furnished by science to-day, such as works of reference and indices, which constitute, so to speak, a condensed form of knowledge. Such chron- icles, moreover, were often written with the same purpose as the lives of the saints. Those, ha-ing a general tendency to enhance as much as possible the glory of their hero, were nothing more than panegyrics. Monastic chronicles and annals are not free from this tendency, and often begin with an accomit of the life of the saint who founded the ab- bey, concerning themselves more with asceticism than with the historical facts and events, which would be of such value to us to-day. In conclusion, the first part of these chronicles, written for the most part since the eleventh century, almost always re- counts legends, often based on oral tradition, but sometimes invented for the purpose of embellishing the early history of the monastery, and of thus in- creasing the devotion of the faithful. Prudent criti- cism should be applied to the majority of these pro- ductions; the errors with which they are tainted can best be discovered by consulting the charters and diplomas quoted. Chronology especially is often treated carelessly. As far as the annals are con- cerned, taken in their strictest sense, it is easily understood how such a thing could happen. As, in the begirming, they w-ere nothing but annotations made in the margin of the "Paschal Cycle", the copyists were often deceived as to the juxtaposition of chronological notes and historical events. This material error became later the source of a multitude of chronological mistakes, which, passing from the annals into compilations or universal chronicles, falsi- fied history for a long period. To correct errors of tliis sort Marianus Scotus wrote his chronicle. Fi- nally, these annals and chronicles, being above all compiled works, were not concerned with eliminat- ing the contradictions that the fusion of legendary and historical facts had caused. Thus Benedict of St. Andrew, of Mount Soracte, in his "Chronicon" accepts and reproduces the legend of Charlemagne's voyage to the Orient, an episode which had been spread abroad by legendary ballads. He inserts this narrative among the historical data taken from the " Vita Karoli " of Einhard, and does not seem to be at all chagrined at the contradiction resulting from this ju.xtaposition. It is true that there were in the Middle Ages choice minds, like those of Herigerus of Lobbes, Folcuin of Saint-Bertin, Otto of Freisingen, Sigebert of Gembloux, etc., whose works prove them to have been lights of criticism, but unfortunately they are the exception. All this class of literature — annals as well as chronicles — must be controlled by official documents and parallel sources of information, it they are to serve as material for the history of the distant past. Gardiner and Mullinger, Introduction to the Study of English History (London, 3d ed., 1894); Gross, The Sources and Literature of English History from the Earliest Times to about 1485 (London, 1900); Ebert, Allgcmeine Geschichte der LittercUur des Alittelalters im At>endUinde (Leipzig, vol. I, 2d ed., 1889; vol. II, 2d ed., 1890; vol. Ill, 1st ed., 1887); De Smedt, Introduclio generalis ad histori^im ecctesiasticaTit critics tractandam (Ghent, 1876); Wattenhach, Deutsch- lands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelaltcr bis zur Mitte des drei- zehnten Jahrhundert (Berlin, vol. I, 7th ed.. 1904; vol. II, 6th ed., 1892); Lorenz. Deutscklands Geschichtsquellen im Mittel- alter seit dem XIII'"' Jahrhundert (Berlin, 2d ed., 1886-87); PoTTHAST, Bibliotheca Historica Medii J£vi. Wegweiser dureh die Geschichtswerke des europHischen Alittelalters bis 1500 (Berlin, 1896); Balzani, Le chronache italiane net medio ei^o (Milan, 2d ed., 1900); Molnier, Les sources de t'hisloire de France depuis les oriffines jusgu'en 1789 (^Paris, 1901-06); M<eller, Traill des iliules historiques, wjth additions by Ch. Mceller (Paris, 1892); Duchesne, Etude sur le Liber Pontificalis in the BibliotMque des icolcs franfaises d'Athl'nes et de Rome (Paris, 18771; MoNon, Etlule criticiue sur les sources de Vhistoirc earolingicnne (Paris, 1898); KunzE, Ein- hard (Berlin, 1899); Waitz. Ucber die Entwickelung der deut- schen Historiographie im Mittelaltcr in Schmidt's Zeitschrift far Geschichte, II, 97-103; WniEl,, lieitr/i/ie zur Kritik der Annales Regni Francorum und Annales qui dicuntur Einhardi (Strasburg. 1902). L. Van deu Essen. Annam. See CorniN-CniN.; Tongkino. Annas, 'Ai-ras (according to Blass and Wescott- Hort, " Ayvas; Joseplius, 'Avai/os). Name (cf. Heb.